World So Cold
by TrunksIzayaBossKadoDRRRotaku
Summary: The young assassin known to the world as the Black Cat leads a lonely life. But all that changes when a mysterious project is bestowed upon him: destroy the creatures known as Diclonii. However, what happens when he meets one of their kind who isn't so murderous? Will he change her lonely life forever?
1. Enter the Black Cat

A/N:This entire story is being redone because, well, I think it _really_ needs some work done on it and let's face it, my writing has dramatically improved since I first started writing this, so let's get down to work here and make it a bit better, with less grammatical mistakes, less OOC-ness, and more coherency. I don't own Black Cat or Elfen Lied.

Chapter 1 The Black Cat

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><p>It was an ordinary sight to anyone passing by the road at all. No one would really question it; it just appeared to be an ordinary creature; a cat, lying on the side of the road, mewing faintly, as though talking to someone no one but it could hear.<p>

People had remarked on how cute the cat was and petted it, but none ever suspected that the cat was not just some innocent feline, it was there for a darker, more mysterious purpose. The little white cat was ever patient, waiting day after day, night after night, for the stranger who would inevitably arrive, like he always did, silent as the darkness all around him.

Also, the cat never showed up on nights where the moon wasn't out from behind the clouds. Tonight, the moonlight half-heartedly spilled onto the sidewalk, illuminating the path that several passersby went down, remarking upon the cat's presence, but none really paid it any mind.

The cat turned, went up to the darkest, dingiest side of the road, looked up and let out a loud, piercing keen. Then the sound of rustling could be heard as the cat's ears twitched, hearing the sound of footfalls, as the all-too familiar figure arrived, jumping down quietly, just like the cat before him would have, if he wasn't friendly with this stranger.

The cat took in the young man standing before it, and meowed, again, purring as his hands stroked the cat's fur gently, before it saw the bowl of milk placed in front of it and happily lapped it down.

"Awfully thirsty tonight, are you? I saved that last drop especially for you, since I knew you'd be waiting here for me." His voice was calm and smooth, very refined for someone his age. The moonlight cast down upon the young man, allowing one to take in his visage quite well, that is if one were curious enough to see his features in the first place.

His hair was a chestnut-brown and stuck up all over the place on his head, and in a way, one could say it suited his wild and unnatural ways. He wore a long, flowing black cape that trailed out behind him, and gave him quite a menacing look. There was a dangerous aura about the man, especially in the dark clothes he wore. His eyes were, unusually enough, feline as well, for they were ALSO gold.

Lazily did he brush his hand upon the cold metal lying by his side, a gleaming silver pistol with traces of gold on the sides; and studied the symbol engraved into it with disinterest; XIII, or in other words, thirteen.

He also had the same symbol engraved on his neck as well, which signified that this boy was no ordinary human being, rather he was an assassin for a special yet covert organization known as Chronos. Chronos was a rather mysterious organization; not much was known about its existence other than that it controlled a lot of the events going on in the world and had much political power.

The assassins for this group were known only as Erasers, because they erased their target, wiped clean off the face of the Earth. Golden irises narrowed slightly as the young man suddenly tensed, raising his pistol up to his side, as he leapt back up on the roof of the building, watching, again.

The cat hissed, sensing the sudden movement of figures near it and darted off into the woods as a few people wandered nearby, unknowing of the teen who lurked nearby like a predator in the night, waiting for its kill to come within its grasp.

A young man in his early thirties, in a business suit, walked by, talking to another young man. Instantly, the teen's hands went to his pistol and he wrapped his thumb around the trigger, waiting, as the man approached his doom, unknowing of the grisly fate that would fall upon him mere moments from now, as he walked.

He waited for a few moments, then...now. He pulled the trigger...and fired. The echoing bang from it was so loud that lights flickered on in all the houses nearest the scene of the crime, but the young man merely paused for a second, to make sure that the victim was dead, and upon seeing the lifeless body lying there, a bullet through the head, he smirked in triumph.

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><p>He quickly fled, as quietly as a cat, into the shadows, just as people were discovering the crime and calling the police. And so the whispers that could be heard around town probably amounted to something like this: several men would gather in a bar, noisily chattering away amongst themselves about this wicked killer.<p>

"...It's probably the work of an Eraser. The work of Number Thirteen...the Black Cat!"

Yes, the young man who was mentioned before is indeed the feared Black Cat. However, his real name was something else. As he sat there, lazily sipping milk in a cafe, a familiar figure showed up beside him, disguised like usual, but those violet orbs were unmistakable.

"...Creed," The golden-eyed young man spoke briefly, before taking a sip of his milk.

The latter smiled faintly, though the lustful gaze he cast upon his friend spoke that there were greater secrets the latter held about the other that he dared not disclose. "...Train. What a magnificent performance you held for us. Chronos is very pleased with what you have done."

"One job done, many more left to go," Train said quietly, still brooding.

"What's the matter, Train? Got something on your mind?" Creed said, placing a rose near the brunette, who pushed it away in disgust.

"...It's just, I'm not looking forward to going back there." The way he said there made it plainly obvious to Creed exactly _what _he was referring to.

"...You mean your 'home' right now until you're old enough to get your own place, huh? That orphanage...it certainly isn't full of heartwarming little ones, is it?" Creed laughed at his own joke, but Train merely smirked a little.

"...Even the thought of returning back there just makes everything I've done up till now seem like nothing. That awful oppressive, atmosphere...it just feels like I'm returning back into a cage." Train whispered, his fists curled around his gun.

"Well, not many members of Chronos have living relatives or parents. And someone like you doesn't need parents. You're great without them. There's so much more you can accomplish than the average human being. We're meant for great things, Train." Creed said suavely. "So, have you considered what I told you about?"

Train looked up then. "What?"

"You know, that new...project that Chronos has been interested in. The one about the Diclonii."

Upon seeing the brunette look at him as though he were ten feet tall and with several heads instead of one, he sighed. "Oh, my dear Train, you've already forgotten about it. They're girls...girls who aren't human, with supernatural powers. They have invisible arms that they use to kill with deadly accuracy. Does that sound familiar to you?"

Train raised a brow at that remark, but otherwise remained silent. "...Are you saying they're a lot like me?"

"E-x-actly like you, Train. Born to be killers, bred to be different...superior to the ordinary rabble that walk amongst us with no intelligent thought processes, thinking only of their dull, dim, ordinary lives. Wouldn't it be great if we could team up with them and destroy this world and make it anew?"

"Creed...Chronos doesn't take well to such talk." Train said in a low voice. "You know-"

"Oh, I know what you think, Train. You wear your heart on your sleeve. That's why I think you'd be best suited for taking these girls and eliminating them. Killing them, before they pose a threat to you or anyone else."

"I am not going to kill a child, Creed. We've been over this numerous times and the answer is still no." Train warned, giving him a stare that could freeze hell itself.

Creed laughed raucously, causing several patrons to give them funny stares, including a family of several children, a dark-haired girl with brown eyes, a boy with dark hair and blue eyes, and a little girl with a pink bow in her hair.

Upon seeing the children, Train's eyes softened, and he waved happily at them, causing the little girl to giggle and return the gesture. Though the little boy beside her seemed rather angered at that, if the cry of "Kanae!" was any indication.

"...Cute little vermin, aren't they?" Creed remarked as the two went out of the restaurant.

"...That's what you think. Some of us like children." Train said in annoyance.

"Except for the brats at the orphanage, hmm? Are they the exception to that rule? I mean, ever since your dear parents died, you've been so protective of little brats that honestly, sometimes I wonder if it'll ruin you-"

Upon seeing the pistol cocked at his face, Creed just burst out laughing hysterically.

"...That's the side of Train Heartnet I love to see, the cold, cruel, sadistic side. The true side of you! Embrace yourself! Love and such is for fools. I'll see you around, Black Cat," He said with a bow as he walked off.

Train sighed as he took his leave, sticking his hands into his pockets, walking amongst the crowd, until he bumped into someone briefly. It was the little girl from before, looking at him with curious violet orbs. She wore a little yellow dress and had a blue skirt on.

"Hi, mister," She said shyly. She looked to be around five, or six, at the oldest. "You dropped this...I just wanted to give it back to you." In her arms was a small decoration that looked like a cat.

"I didn't drop this," He said in confusion.

The girl giggled. "My cuz Yuka made it...she said I should give it to someone I like. And you look like a kitty cat!"

Train smiled at that, and patted her head. "Take care now. Don't always talk to strangers, not all of them are as kind as I."

As she ran back to her father and her little brother, she paused to take in the young boy walking back.

"He seemed kinda upset, Onii-chan. Almost like he was going somewhere he didn't like to be."

"I'm sure it was your imagination, Kanae," Kouta said. "Come on, we're going to be late. We're going back home for a while before we go back to see Yuka."

"I figured we'll stay home for a few weeks, and then come back to go to the festival in a few weeks. That recent assassination worries me." Kouta's father said. "And that young man may look polite, but he gave me a bad feeling."

Kanae hummed in triumph. "I'm sure that boy's a good boy, Daddy! Kanae always right."

"Not always," Kouta huffed.

Silence was all that greeted him on his way back to the place he was forced to call home. The orphanage was a rather small and cramped building with bad management, lousy staff, and it hadn't seen a cleaner in years.

As he walked in, none bothered to greet him. Not that he was surprised. No one cared about anyone besides themselves here. That was how things worked.

The children were all selfish, cruel beasts, not like the shy, quiet girl he met back at the restaurant.

"If all people...were as kind and polite as that little girl, perhaps this world would be a better place...and maybe then, someone like me wouldn't need to be an assassin at all." He said the words to himself.

* * *

><p>He ignored the presence of the other children as he walked past them, ignoring their stares, their inquiring glances. He walked past the nurses' station, and was unsurprised to hear a ring of chatter from the inhabitants within.<p>

"Not that girl again. She's sick once more. Now we have to waste time babysitting her..."

"I know...and those horns of hers are so hideous, I feel like throwing up every time I see them. Why can't we just kick her out on the street?"

"...She is still a human being, in the loosest way possible. You know, I wonder why her parents even bothered to bring her here in the first place. None of the children will play with her. She's a waste of space, honestly."

Train could feel his anger building up inside him. He knew it was stupid, but then again, sometimes stray cats bite off more than they can chew.

"...The only waste I hear is that you guys are wasting valuable time with lonely kids over gossiping about just one of them." Train said coldly, scaring the daylights out of the cowards, who backed away as he went into his room.

"I've heard that kid is bad news. He's some kind of criminal..."


	2. Chapter 2 The horned girl

**A/N:Time for the next chapter to be re-done! I hope you enjoy it very much! I really do enjoy this story and writing it. It's just the entire thing needs to be redone and I really enjoy writing from Train's perspective. He really is such an interesting character. I hope you all enjoy it verryyyy muchhh~ :D Don't own Black Cat or Elfen Lied. I want to still keep the same dark attitude in this as in the original material. So I hope you enjoy this. Train has met Kanae in this story, but Lucy has yet to appear. I believe I will just be calling her Kaede, because Lucy isn't her real name, so on with the plot. **

**Chapter 2 The black cat meets the captive cat**

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><p>It was a bright, cheery morning at the orphanage. The sun rose above the hills, promising yet another beautiful day for the children of the orphanage, who would most likely be outside, playing on such a happy day. In fact, most of the children in the orphanage appeared to get along rather well with one another-at least that's what it <em>looked like, to<em> anyone not in the know in the place.

In reality, though, life inside the place was more like a bread and circus kind of thing; everyone fought over who would be dominant. There were bullies, there were the outcasts. There was a pecking order in place; who would get what food, who would be the one who was picked on, who would be the one who was left alone without any friends, etc, and at the top of this so-called food chain, there was none more obnoxious or widely despised than a young boy by the name of Tomoo.

Tomoo's last name was unknown as he, too, had been adopted after his mother had died under mysterious circumstances. Many suspected that she had died of drug abuse, and his father was never really around, so Tomoo had developed a hatred for all adults because of the way he was treated, and eventually, this hatred also grew into a loathing of his very nature.

As a result, Tomoo had decided to start putting down others so he could feel better about himself, try to forget the fact that he was a freaking orphan, try to forget that he could never get adopted because he acted this way, while secretly loathing himself. And it worked for the most part. He often had several accomplices, cronies, lackeys, call them what you will, they were children who would do things for him, but not out of mutual respect, of course. That was for weaklings.

Though the orphanage children ranged from despising Tomoo and praying they would never fall under his wrath to fearing him and hoping he would never find them, there were few who would actually be considered his loyal pawns, puppets, whatever you called them.

One of these was a boy named Ken, who was very much a typical stooge without any real personality. The third was called Sprout, which wasn't his real name, but no one knew his real name nor cared enough to, so that was that. No one cared about who you really were in this place; all that mattered was if you were good enough to be seen worthy of not being bullied, tormented, and subjected to so much hatred you'd want to die, then you could call yourself lucky and go to sleep satisfied.

If not, you were one of his victims. Tomoo was very much what normal people would call a sociopath. He thought of himself first before anything else, and anyone who dared challenge his pecking order must be insane or crazy, therefore whenever any new child entered the orphanage, they were sadly unaware of the fate that awaited them.

Almost every single one would be picked on and singled out, until they became like him or just ignored everyone else who was picked on. He didn't discriminate. He picked on a young girl with glasses and called her blind, he picked on a young boy who was deaf and hid his hearing aids from him and called him an old man, he picked on a boy who used a cane to walk, and called him a cripple. That was until the 'crippled' boy had enough and had whacked him with his cane.

He'd even picked on a boy with autism, too, calling him a space case, or satellite, and he and his buddies had gotten great pleasure out of pushing him around until he'd been adopted. It didn't matter if you were a girl or a boy, or a person whose existence didn't fall between those terms. Anyone who didn't fall into the very narrow-minded perspective Tomoo had of the world, was not acceptable to exist.

Lately, however, Tomoo's pecking order had been disturbed, by a girl. No, actually, two girls. One, a new girl who'd recently joined the orphanage after her parents had met a tragic end in a car crash, and she the only survivor. Having no relatives willing to take her in, she had been sent here, against her wishes. Her name was Hanako Kishibe.

From the second she had joined, Tomoo's life had suddenly taken a turn for the worse. This girl was a rebel who refused to do what Tomoo wanted to do. This girl would also stand up for those who were being picked on. He had tried, of course. By throwing spitballs at her during class, or shooting paper airplanes at her head, but she had merely ignored him and the teachers had sentenced him to detention.

Somehow, now that she was here, he was always landing in detention after detention. Before, the adults had never cared. Why did they suddenly care so much now what he did? Normally, they let it go. They didn't care about the kids, they only cared about the money that landed in their pockets. Such was the darkness in this atmosphere that would contribute to even more misfortune.

There were even some children whose parents had been killed by...assassins. Tomoo scoffed at the idea of such a thing happening.

The second was the young girl he currently had his eye on, as she sat, all alone, at her table, with the other children pointing at her, making faces, and throwing things at her. This girl could be described as the odd one out among the orphanage.

She had red hair that was so red, it looked almost pink and resembled the evening sky. Her eyes were blood-red, a fact that noticeably creeped out almost every adult or child she interacted with. She was smaller and skinnier than the rest of the children, which only contributed to her isolation. But the one thing that made her stand out, more than anything else, were two small white horns she had on her head. Tomoo liked to call her the devil's spawn, a demon in human form, or better yet, an ox, or even a cat and make meowing sounds at her.

However, this girl was emotionless and had long grown used to his ways, and thus she ignored him. And it was really starting to piss him off. He stared at her, walked up to her and stared at her, trying to get some emotion out of her, get her to say something.

All she did was stare right back, roll her eyes and then look away.

Not very impressive for the resume of Tomoo the bully, so therefore Tomoo continued to stare at her. "You're really stupid, aren't you?"

Instead, she said, softly, "You're the stupid one."

"You little bitch!" He cried out. "Nobody's allowed to interrupt me while I talk!"

"You're a lying, disgusting piece of shit. Why should I care what you have to say?" She said, softly. Again, why the hell didn't she show any damned emotion?

"You _should_ care, because it's your future." He hissed, as he grabbed at her horns, ignoring her protests, and then slammed her face down into her food. Instantly, all the children burst out laughing, as if they were all programmed to do so.

"Look at the freak!" Sprout cried, striding up to Tomoo's side from wherever he'd been and kicking the girl hard. She let out a little cry, but otherwise showed no sign of discomfort.

"Come on, horns! Aren't you actually going to admit that you're inferior to me?"

"At least I'm not an asshole who pushes people around for their own gain."

"Name something I don't have that you do, then," He snapped.

"Manners," She said.

He just looked at her and then burst out laughing. "Manners aren't necessary for a freak like you. We need to establish control here."

"It's all bull, anyway. You don't really care, do you?" She said.

He looked at her with wide eyes. This was the first time anyone had dared to cross his way of doing things. Instantly, he kicked her, again.

"Shut the hell up, freaks don't need to talk!"

"That's right!" His cronies chimed in, getting on either side of him.

"You'd be better off dead, no one would miss you!"

"I doubt anyone'd miss you, either," Was her casual retort.

Tomoo kicked her chair over, knocked everything off, and started to laugh as he did so. But no one made any move to help her. Because this was his reign, his empire, his territory, and whatever he said went. Except for today.

All would have gone as Tomo had planned if there hadn't been a certain...irregularity seated at the table, eating his food calmly, silently praying to himself that he'd be freed from this hellhole soon and allowed to live by himself. That was one Train Heartnet; he was sitting there watching the commotion with boredom, but growing more irritated by the second.

When he'd first arrived here, Tomoo had made it his mission to torment the young boy who loved playing with cats, and being solitary. That was until Train had become more advanced in the ways of Chronos and had pistol-whipped him. Thus the little coward had been so terrified and had instead, never bothered him again.

He'd never seen the young redhead before, but he noticed that she kept on acting like this was normal. Why did she put up with it when she could just say something or fight back? To be honest, it kind of infuriated him. So he spoke up, lazily.

"Hey, monkey boy, you mind shutting up? I need to finish my dinner."

"Oh, look, if it isn't the freak who likes cats!" Tomoo cried, instantly shifting targets.

All the other children looked at Train in fear. They didn't know much about him, but from what they knew, he was not to be messed with. Train normally liked children, but not these children. Sighing, he yawned and stretched.

"What'd you say? I wasn't paying attention, I stopped listening once you started heaving diarrhea out of your mouth."

Tomoo's face turned beet-red. "How dare you!"

"I'm sorry, Tomoo, but it really, really saddens me, that you're so insecure that you feel the need to be a jerk to others to make your_...physical _inadequacy matter less."

"You little!" Tomoo cried, and with that, he lunged at Train.

"If you want me to, I will show you it...again." He said, pointing to his gun.

Instantly, Tomoo's face paled considerably. "This isn't over!" He cried, as he ran out of the room, his goons close behind.

Train's gaze went to the girl that was watching him closely. Clearly, she hadn't expected someone to stand up for her.

"T-Thank you...but why would you do that? Are you trying to prove that you're better than they are?"

"No," He said.

"Then why?"

"Because they're not worth your time. You shouldn't be concerned with what others think." He said flatly.

"Yeah, you're right. But who are you?" She asked.

"I'm...Train. Train Heartnet, a lone cat who's looking for his purpose in life. I've seen exactly how strong you are."

"Strong? I'm not like you. I don't have the strength to fight for myself. My name's Kaede."

He shook her hand. "You are strong, I just know it."

Kaede blushed. "That's the first time anyone's told me that I matter. And I don't have a last name. Tomoo claims my parents abandoned me in the woods."

"Tomoo's a lying bastard who hates what doesn't agree with him," He said.

She nodded, "I agree with that assertion. But still, I don't really like many people. It's better-"

"To be alone, right? It's better to be alone with your thoughts."

She looked at him and then nodded, clearly not having expected him to be like this.

"You know, you can talk to me any time you want. I'll be there for you."

She looked at him, unsure of what to say. "How come I've never noticed you here before?" She finally asked.

"Most of the time I keep to myself and only come here when I need to. Most of the time, what I intend to do is stay as far away from this place as possible."

"Um..." She began, "Would you like...to see a secret I have?"

He looked at her, raising a brow in confusion. "A secret?"

"You can't tell anyone else."

"I'm particularly good at keeping secrets, especially my own. What is it...?"

"Um...I might show it to you later..." She said, but then Train received a message for his next mission. But as the two parted ways, he saw a brown-haired girl make her move, coming over to Kaede.

"I'm sorry that they have to pick on you!" She said, sounding very unhappy. Or, was he feigned, he wondered? He couldn't tell.

"Don't be, they're always like this," She said.

"But it's awful you get picked on! I simply couldn't stand to watch it any longer, you know. They bully me, too, for what happened to my parents. They just got behind the wheel like usual...there was a loud crashing sound and screaming...and then Mom and Dad wouldn't move anymore. And because of that, they pick on me. Your name's Kaede, right?"

For some reason, the second Hanako saw Train, her eyes widened and she blushed considerably.

Train blinked in bemusement, not sure why this was happening. "Whatever," He muttered.

"Who was that guy?" She chirped.

"I don't really know, but he said his name was Train." Kaede said. 'He sure is a mysterious guy,' She thought, 'Maybe he'll actually...save me from this place.'

"You really don't have to go on this mission so soon, you know?" A man with green hair said to his partner, who smiled.

"You know I can handle myself. What's the worst that could happen? I have this eye of mine...you promised you'd never tell anyone about it, right, Sven?"

Sven smiled. "Yeah, I won't tell anyone. They won't believe me. Just be careful out there."

"Yeah, I will. And work on getting women this time around," His partner joked.

"I'm such a gentleman and yet they still don't!"

"I'll be back as soon as I can be." His partner said as he left, on his mission.

Sven walked into Annette's cafe, not surprised when she didn't look up from the book she was reading, and she greeted him with a smile.

"It's good to see you back," She said, "I just received intel about Chronos."

"Chronos, huh?" He said, his face darkening. "They've sure been active lately."

"Word is they have a new secret mission going, but I haven't uncovered it yet. And their youngest assassin has been pretty famous lately." She smiled as he sat down. "I told you to stop smoking."

"And I'm not gonna quit any time soon," He retorted back. "Who's this assassin?"

"He's called the Black Cat. They say he moves like a demon and that his eyes are gold and gleam like a cat's in the darkness."

"I see, and you honestly expect me to go chasing after a ghost tale like that?"

"It's not just a ghost tale. You know that this Black Cat exists." She said.

"Don't worry, I won't believe that black cats exist unless I'm unlucky enough to cross paths with it." He said, lightly, as he got something to eat and then left.

Annette looked at the wanted list and noticed that Black Cat was listed there, for a large bounty. "What exactly is the Black Cat trying to achieve? I wish I knew the answers to that."

* * *

><p>Train slouched, clearly bored at this mission at Chronos. Creed sent him a reassuring smile, at which he merely grimaced a little.<p>

"Here's the name of your newest target that you are to attack." They said, handing him a paper.

"Director Kakuzawa," He said, reading the name off, and then raised a brow. "This name isn't familiar."

"It's because they work undercover, where they experiment on young girls known as Diclonii. You weren't paying attention, were you?"

Train's only response was to give him a dry shrug.

"We trust you will not fail us in this mission, Black Cat. Unite Chronos and the world together."

The words that he had heard a thousand times before. Still, he bowed, not allowing any emotion to grace his face.

"Of course, I'll give them the bad luck that they won't forget." He added as he walked out.

The one who had spoken to Train turned to the other Chronos Elder beside them.

"Young Heartnet is showing signs of promise, yet he seems to be too independent. And especially that Diskenth fellow, he troubles me. Heartnet told me Diskenth has been fantasizing about wanting to control Chronos."

"Just keep an eye on them. But if anyone's one hundred percent dedicated to our cause, it's Heartnet. There's no way he'd ever deviate."

* * *

><p>Train came back rather late from his mission, after having killed quite a few people. There were a few victims that had to be silenced.<p>

Train could only sigh as he wandered, only to blink in confusion as he saw a tiny brown puppy headed his way, out of the bushes. The puppy sniffed him and then barked happily.

"What is it?" A voice said from behind the dog. Kaede came out in time to meet Train's eyes and the two stared at each other before she blushed, again.

"Is this your secret?" He said.

She nodded her head and blushed deeply. "Yes. He doesn't have a name, but he's alone, too."

"So you both bonded, then." He said, extending his hand out for the dog to examine. The dog licked him enthusiastically. "What is his name?"

"He doesn't have one." She said, "I haven't thought of one, though."

"I'm sure you'll think of one. Good night, Kaede. Be sure to go in soon. Not safe to be out here all alone." He said, and with that, he disappeared.

"How did he move so fast?" Kaede questioned, but had no answers as she fed her dog, unaware of the tragic days to come.


	3. Chapter 3 Interview with Kakuzawa

**A/N:Time for the next update to this story. I think it's going pretty well so far. I'm looking forward to your reviews and responses. **

**Chapter 3 Interview with Kakuzawa**

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><p>He was so engrossed in his paperwork when the mysterious guest showed up that he didn't even notice the fact that his guest had a gun tucked under his arm. Then again, Professor Kurama tended to not judge by appearance, because he tended to look at people's inner character-except if they were known as dicloni, those little, murderous freaks who had caused the death of his wife. His own daughter was one, for god's sake, and he didn't know what to do with her, so he had had her locked away in a cell where she couldn't endanger anyone.<p>

He was under a lot of stress right now due to all the paperwork he was dealing with, the fact that he had a young diclonius girl under observation in an orphanage not too far from here. To add insult to injury, there was some mysterious "guest" who was supposed to come around here sooner or later in order to be interviewed for a job. He didn't know most of the details, but then again, he wasn't one of the higher-ups in the company. He only worked for them.

* * *

><p>The door opened just as he was dialing a phone number in order to speak to Professor Kakuzawa about new findings on the diclonius. It creaked open a little, and someone stepped in. The person was so quiet that Kurama almost didn't even hear him come in. He put down the phone for a second, ignoring the person on the other end who had just picked up the line and directed his gaze to the person standing in front of his desk.<p>

A tall young man stood in front of me, dressed in work clothes. He was wearing a business suit and a tie, but looked decidedly uncomfortable in it. He was quite young for his age, so maybe he was one of those kinds of workers who wouldn't fit anywhere else and was transferred here in order to shut him up. His hair was black and messy and hung up everywhere, though for a second, he thought that maybe his hair was a wig.

The young man stared piercingly at him with sharp, cold golden eyes. Kurama froze for a few moments. Those eyes of his were so unemotional and intelligent that it seemed like he was looking right through Kurama and up into the heavens themselves. This young man was _too _quiet for someone getting a job transfer. Something wasn't right here...

"Can I help you, sir?" Kurama said, as politely as he could. He may be a guest, but he was still unnerved by the young man's unusual behavior.

The young man flashed him a cold stare and then he spoke. "...I need to speak with your boss. The head of this company...is Director Kakuzawa, correct? I was looking forward...to meeting him." His voice was cold, almost robotic in nature.

"Y-Yes. You can probably find him up on the top floor of this facility. You have to be careful of the experimental test subjects, though-they are quite a handful. They can kill without provocation." Kurama warned, hoping that this one would heed his warning-he had seen more recruits killed on more than one occasion for not knowing how to handle a diclonius, or worse they would just be killed because they happened to be there at the time. Kurama would not stand for allowing innocent people to be killed by those monsters, so he hoped that this man had some common sense.

"...Killing without provocation, huh? Don't worry, I've met the type before. I'm used to it." The man chuckled before flashing him an ambiguous smile. It sent chills down his spine.

"What do you mean?"

Another man entered from behind the first. He had white hair and purple eyes. "...Why don't you mind your own business, now?" He whispered. There was something not right about these two. The second man gave off an air of killing intent. What kind of evil had Director Kakuzawa gotten his hands on? These people weren't even diclonii, so why did they give him such a bad feeling in his chest?

* * *

><p>Train smiled in relief at his partner, Creed, as the two of them headed down the hallway away from the creepy professor. He was inwardly glad that the two of them had managed to shake him off from making more insistent questions, otherwise he might have found himself out of this "job" interview and back outside. His disguise skills were quite supreme and Train had found it fairly easy to imitate people's voices once he heard them.<p>

"That was a close save, Creed." Train whispered.

Creed merely laughed merrily. "My dear Train, you will have to be more grateful to me, you know."

Train pouted. "Don't act like this. We have to keep why we're here a secret-"

Suddenly, a shout of pain could be heard from the hallway. A staff member was running from something, and she was missing a leg. Blood dripped down her leg. Suddenly, her head came flying off and landed in front of a startled Train, who watched in disgust as the corpse fell on the ground, still spewing blood. Then, a small pink-haired child walked into sight of the two assassins. Its red eyes stared up at them both for a few moments. Then it spoke. It was female, evidently, but she had strange white ears sticking up out of her head.

"Who are you guys? You smell like blood. Are you two like me? Have you had your hands covered in blood, too?" She asked in a monotone voice.

Train said nothing, and looked over her. "Why is a kid like you locked up here?"

"They say I'm a monster and then they throw things at me and tell me they're tests. I have to endure them all the time. Even if I get stained in blood-" The child stopped upon seeing Train's fists tightening in rage.

"...Those bastards. I'll take care of the bad men for you." He whispered gently to her, before speeding down the hallway.

"Watch out for my friends and their arms!" She called, but he didn't even hear her.

"That idiot...always starting fights he knows he can't win...I'm coming with you, Train!" Creed called, and he scowled at the child before him, and tried to make his way past the child, but she frowned at him.

"I don't like you...you seem like a mean man." She deduced.

"I don't like you, either...you seem like a whiny brat." Creed spat back, not sparing the child any mercy. He didn't like kids that much and he didn't know why Train spared women and children all the time. It seemed like a weak spot that could kill him.

"I could call the professor in on you." The being challenged, staring at him coldly.

Creed stared at her coldly. "I hate whiny brats like you, you know. Always whining and complaining about everything they dislike. Why don't you grow up and stop complaining about reality?"

The child smirked suddenly. It was a cold, ruthless kind of smile. "Why don't we try and find out-"

* * *

><p>Her eyes widened as she realized the white-haired man was gone. "Dammit! I couldn't get at him with my vectors." Suddenly, she realized a far more <em>interesting <em>target was coming her way. Professor Kurama was coming. He was the man who had chained her up here and had made her life hell. Now she could _finally_ meet with him and tell him exactly how she felt about him.

"Hello, Professor. I've been waiting to meet you for all this time. I'd like to thank you for your kin-"

The girl slumped over, dead with a bullet through the head. Kurama stared with wide eyes at the men who stood over her dead body.

"That was a close save! Did you know if her vectors touch you, you can get infected-"

"I _know_ that already. I know much more about the Diclonii than you do, so you be quiet for a while, all right! Where is Director Kakuzawa at this time?" Kurama demanded.

The two men both flinched visibly. "Umm...the last I heard was that he was meeting some client for a...job interview!" One responded nervously.

"Thanks...I've got to go right away..."

"Sir, there is some bad news coming from some local facility for dicloni. They say that the girl we placed in the orphanage shows signs of awakening her vectors. What do we do?"

Kurama's face paled visibly. "No...this can't be happening. If she is awakened, this could be the end of us all..."

"What could be, sir?" The other man beside him said stupidly.

Kurama glared at him. "Are you stupid? Get me their number right away! They need to get rid of that child right away! She will kill all the children there! We don't want her attacking humans, and especially not children!"

"But sir, if we do that, we're attacking a child as well. Doesn't that make us hypocrites?" The other officer pointed out.

"Shut up! Enough of your backtalk! Just get me their number right away-"

"I'm afraid you won't be _going anywhere, Professor." _A cold voice responded from behind him, and suddenly a white haired man appeared, wielding...a stick?

"Who are you?"

The man smirked evilly and threw a rose at his feet. "Me? I'm a messenger...from the organization..._Chronos! _We're here to give your little director a message...stop abusing children or else we shall...erase you!" He said, before firing a gun he had.

The first officer fell, shot through the head. The second officer charged at the white-haired man, who merely smirked at his foolish bravery and stabbed him with his sword. The second officer collapsed in a pool of blood. Kurama gaped at the genocide he was seeing here.

"No, why would Chronos come to a place like this? This isn't what you guys do! You're supposed to go after corrupt politicians, mafia men, and innocent people! Why are you going after us?"

"Chronos didn't send me. They sent someone else to do the job. I merely accompanied him along in order to see all the chaos that's going to break out. Wanna a nice bottle of beer to celebrate, Mr. Kurama?" He offered, pouring himself a glass of sake and sipping some.

Kurama flinched. "...Who did you send?"

"You see, when naughty little boys like you get your hands coated in mud and think you can have all the power in the world and can go and throw baseballs in people's windows, smash cars, and throw cats in trees and not get caught, you make a big mistake. Sometimes...the people who have their cars smashed..._get angry, and then they send someone to give you a warning. _I'm merely here as a spectator. The real judge will give his verdict in...oh, probably about five minutes!" The man ranted on crazily. There was a horrible glint of insanity in those purple eyes.

He raised his gun to defend himself, but then he heard insects buzzing, and he couldn't move.

"Thank you so much, Shiki. _Get rid of the garbage." _He ordered. That was the last Kurama heard before he passed out.

* * *

><p>Director Kakuzawa poured himself a cup of coffee and handed some to his guest, who declined. He raised an eyebrow upon seeing the boy pull out a bottle of milk and drink from it. "So...what did you come here to talk about? Where were you last employed?"<p>

The boy remained silent for a few moments, drinking his glass of milk. When he didn't respond, Kakuzawa's fists tightened. So, this brat thought he could be a smart-ass towards an influential man and mock him by not saying anything. This was all just a prank done by some stupid kid who had his head in the clouds.

"Talk to me!" Kakuzawa screamed, banging his fist on the desk, which shook the desk and caused the bottle of milk to fall out of the boy's hands and shatter. The boy's eyes drifted from the spilt milk to the floor. "Don't cry over spilt milk now, little shit. You can either get the hell out of here and take your prank elsewhere or else-"

"**I'm afraid this is no prank, Director Kakuzawa. Rather, I've merely come to deliver a little message. It's addressed personally to you." **The boy remarked, throwing off his business suit and tie to reveal a black outfit with a long flowing cape. He threw off his wig and then suddenly a gun was being pointed at Kakuzawa's head. A shiny golden-and-silver pistol gleamed in the moonlight. Outside, the white cat watched and meowed sadly.

"Mreow..." It moaned.

"W-Who the hell are you?"

"I'm sent by Chronos. I'm the Black Cat, Director Kakuzawa, and I've _come to bring some bad luck to you_. Goodbye." The boy remarked, before his gun went off. That was the last Director Kakuzawa would ever hear, as he saw red everywhere and he collapsed out of his chair, dead.

* * *

><p>Train stared coldly at the lifeless carcass of the man before him. "You brought death upon yourself by becoming an enemy of humanity. No sane person can watch you harm innocent children and not feel angered. Chronos merely wants lifeless scum like you off the face of the planet."<p>

Creed walked in then. "We have a problem, Black Cat."

"You mean you didn't take care of the cameras?" Train asked pointedly.

"Of course I did that. What I mean is that these children are...killers themselves. That's the only reason why they're being kept here."

"Killers or not, they're still children, Creed! Free them at once!" Train ordered.

"Our job is done here, my dear Train. Chronos's orders were to eliminate Director Kakuzawa, am I correct? Therefore, if you take any further actions, it will be out of line." Creed whispered.

"Is that a threat, Creed?" Train snapped coldly.

"No...just a warning. Let's go for now." Creed ordered, and then they vanished.

* * *

><p>Kaede lay outside, allowing the cool forest air to wash over her tired body. Being outside at night really allowed her to calm down somewhat and think over what her life might be like if she lived away from this orphanage, away from this hellish life, if she had a home and family of her own...<p>

Her mind drifted back to the girl from earlier. She seemed friendly enough, but could she really trust in her? Something about her...was a little...off.

Her dog lay beside her, whining like always.

"I'm sorry. I don't have enough bread for now." She whispered. She didn't know how much longer she could keep on feeding this dog for. She had no money and only thrived on the food the orphanage gave her.

As if hearing her thoughts, the puppy whined. "I'm sorry...I just don't know what to do." She moaned. It was getting awfully chilly out here and she had to go back in soon.

A pair of brown eyes watched in curiosity as she saw the girl she had helped from earlier cuddling a dog. Their owner turned away from the window and snickered slightly. What a brave girl she was, fighting all on her own! Those stupid bullies were always getting under everyone's skin. She had to confide in her about the dog, right?

"I really like her..." She whispered.

Suddenly, a brown-haired young man appeared down in Kaede's vision. "Here. Take some of this." He responded, before throwing a bag of biscuits into the girl's arms.

"How did you, Mr. Heartnet...?" She trailed off.

The boy turned and stared at her intently. She blushed deeply upon seeing him face her. "Call me Train, please. I'm not fond of my last name."

"It's better than what they call me. They call me horned freak and an ox. Tomoo and his gang." She corrected.

"Them? I've dealt with them before. There are always going to be jerks in your life that pick on you. So, you have to learn how to stand up for yourself, all right? I'll be there for you whenever I can." He whispered softly.

Kaede's face heated up. "Why would you be so selfless?"

"...You remind me of myself when I was younger, somehow. My parents were killed when I was young, and like you, I was all alone. I always have been all alone and have gotten used to it, but I never let the people who hated me get in my way. You shouldn't let people like that get you down. Just remind yourself that you are strong, and that they are cowards for picking on you." Train replied softly.

"...O-Okay, Mr. Train." Kaede whispered softly.

Hanako flinched. "He's interesting..."

Suddenly, she was grabbed from behind by a boy.

"See something interesting, Kataru? I heard you talking to yourself. Is it about the horned freak?"

Hanako flipped the light switch on and saw it was Tomoo holding her by her lapels. "You freak! Get out of my room! Have you _no _decency at all, you pervert! I was just starting to get into my pajamas!" She shrieked, throwing things at him.

"Stop the lying. You are involved with her, aren't you? Tell me what you know about her." Tomoo responded.

"Never. You shut your damned mouth, you stupid pig." Hanako snapped.

"Fine, then. Let's start picking on the friend of the ox! We'll change it to oxen, then!" Tomoo cried, and his goons appeared from behind him and started beating her up.

They left her unconscious and smirked. "We'll just have to find out what it is...she's hiding on our own!"


	4. Chapter 4 Traitor

**A/N:It's hard to imagine what will happen now that Director Kakuzawa is dead, you know? I had a hard time coming up with this chapter, you know. Gravniel, thank you for your reviews. Yes, Train killed Saya's father. It would be interesting to see how that works out whenever they meet later on. **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4 Saya <strong>

* * *

><p>Shirakawa was not in the best of moods right now. She was becoming tired of employees asking her the same annoying, troublesome questions about how something this horrible could have happened to their boss. What exactly had gone wrong in that interview with the potential employee last night? All she knew was that the Director himself had ordered her to not intervene or come in at any time until they had finished the meeting.<p>

When she had seen or heard nothing of him for two hours, she had decided that something was desperately wrong with this situation. She had immediately rushed in with Professor Kurama and much to their shock, they had discovered him lying on the ground, dead. He had been shot in the head and there was blood everywhere from his lifeless corpse. At the most, she estimated that he had been dead for one hour or more...it seemed as though he had been murdered right after the talk had begun.

While she knew that he had been murdered, the inner questions were so troubling and perplexing that she could not make sense of this entire event. The head honcho of their organization was dead, so now the Institute had fallen into shambles. The lower associates argued amongst themselves and now everyone suspected it of being an inside job, and for some reason, Professor Kurama was blamed for the incident. Many suspected him of having murdered the Director.

Shirakawa thought that that was absurd. Kurama had had absolute loyalty in the Director and his mission to destroy the Diclonni, so what reason would he possibly have to betray the man and put a hole in his head?

The worst thing about all of this was that no one knew who had done it...because there was _no _evidence. Most of the people who had seen something suspicious had later been found dead in their rooms. All of them had been killed and silenced before they could reveal the truth as to what had happened hours ago. It was as if the man had simply blown his own brains out here and there.

Murder was suspected, but there were no signs of a weapon found, nor were there any fingerprints on anything. Everything had been cleaned up, and there was no sign of a struggle, meaning that whoever had killed him had abruptly shot him and he had died almost as soon as the bullet had hit his head. Right now, there were CT scans being done on his skull in order to see whether or not they could find any more conclusive evidence that might lead to a possible suspect.

Professor Kurama himself claimed to have encountered a strange man, but he would not give a definitive description as to what he looked like or what his name was. All he said was that this man he met sent chills down his spine. He also claimed that they had come from Chronos. That news shocked her to the core. Chronos usually brought about assassinations on important political figures, mob bosses, and other filthy, corrupt people. However, what motive could there possibly be in order to kill their boss?

Chronos wasn't even supposed to be aware of the fact that their organization existed in the first place. Perhaps they had had spies sent in earlier who were really good at their jobs.

* * *

><p>"Professor Kakuzawa, what do you make of this?" She asked the Director's son, who was grieving over the loss of his father. He was very uptight today and angry over the fact that his father had been killed in such a brutal way.<p>

"I don't know, but whoever killed my father...will taste my wrath! I bet you anything it was one of _them! _One of those horrible freaks with the horns! I'll bet you anything that they got up here and got their revenge by murdering him."

"Yes, but most of these "freaks" are little children. Even though they have bloodthirsty tendencies, do any of them know how to operate a gun? At this stage, most of them haven't even developed their vectors yet except for Number 35." Shirakawa pointed out, but Kakuzawa wasn't even paying attention.

His face was turning bright red as he read over something he held in his hands. Shirakawa became curious and walked over to him and tried to read whatever it was over his shoulder, but he noticed and pushed her. "Don't look at this! This is an insult addressed to us personally!"

She noticed that there was a text message on his cell phone that read, in bold, black, letters:

**"Hello. It seems you have received the sign that Director Kakuzawa is dead. He simply ran into a bit of bad luck, and he had to be erased off the face of the earth. We are watching you closely, so you should really stop experimenting on children before your evil deeds get the better of you." **

"W-Who could have sent this?" Shirakawa asked, her face chalk white.

"This message can't be tracked! Damn it, it seems all our leads have vanished in this case!" Kakuzawa snapped.

"Not necessarily. Chronos is behind this." Kurama said, stepping into the room.

"What? Those bloody fools again! Dammit, and here I thought they would get the picture sooner or later and stop sticking their noses in where it doesn't belong!" Kakuzawa snapped. "I think we should keep a close eye on that diclonius in the orphanage for starters."

"But she's too far away to have done such a reprehensible deed!" Kurama protested.

"I don't know what should be done anymore...it seems like a ghost came and did this. Whoever did this was definitely from Chronos, but they covered their tracks so well that there's no way of tracking the man or woman responsible for this heinous crime!" Kakuzawa exclaimed, putting his head down.

The room fell into a stunned silence until the door flew open and someone came in holding a cup of coffee held by unsteady hands. The girl holding them stumbled slightly, but Kurama gently helped her to her feet. "Um, I'm _so _sorry, Professor Kurama, sir! I heard you guys talking and thought maybe you would all like some coffee, but I'm still so clumsy-"

"Kisaragi, you're doing just fine. Just keep practicing and you'll do better. Right now, puberty is probably making you a little clumsy and unsteady." Kurama joked, before laughing slightly. Shirakawa laughed as well. Kisaragi blushed deeply before muttering out a slight thank you and running out.

"She's a sprightly young thing, isn't she?" Professor Kakuzawa mused.

"Yes, she's quite innocent." Shirakawa said. "That's an admirable thing to have in this day and age."

"I hope she never gets in the path of the Diclonius." Kurama muttered to himself. Somehow, he had a bad feeling about the next few days. It felt like something bad was going to happen.

* * *

><p>Kaede awoke the next day feeling refreshed and quite happy for a change. She decided to go find her new friend, Hanako, and talk to her about the dog she had found and wanted to enlist her help in trying to feed the young thing, since it was starving. She didn't have enough bread to keep on feeding it, after all, and she really wanted to keep him, but she knew the staff at the orphanage here would never let her keep a pet.<p>

She walked downstairs, and much to her surprise, there was no sign of her new friend. The young man from last night didn't seem to be around, either. Her heart sunk in her chest. She decided to sit at the table and wait for them. Maybe Hanako would show up by then.

An hour had passed. Still no sign of her friend. Something wasn't right. She decided to go look for her friend, but as she was about to stand up, suddenly she heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, freak, you're so cocky, even though you're not human!" Tomoo taunted. She whirled around to see him standing in the doorway, with one of his cronies, holding her dog, who was wriggling around in terror, trying to get free.

"Put him down, you idiot! Don't do this to him!" She pleaded. She tried to go up and race toward her dog, but one of the boys held her back.

"You don't smile or laugh. You're so creepy, you know? Why don't you scream and cry? Then maybe we'll let the dog go." Tomoo taunted.

Kaede kicked him straight in the groin. He grunted in pain and barked an order to one of his cronies. "Hey, kick the dog in reciprocation!"

The other boy looked hesitant for a moment. "Is that really necessary? It seems a little _too_ cruel."

"Shut up and do as I say! Unless _you_ want to be the one getting beaten up after school today!"

The boy still paused for a moment, and then he turned to face Kaede. "If you really want me to do it, I guess..." He trailed off before still staring at the puppy, who seemed utterly terrified of him. "Sorry, little fella, but I got to..." He reached out his other hand toward the mutt in order to pick it up and kick it.

However, _that _proved to be a mistake, as the dog growled and bared its fangs at him and then the puppy sunk its sharp teeth into the boy's left arm, causing the boy to cry out in pain as the dog sunk its teeth in deeper. Blood started pouring out of the boy's arm as the dog sunk in deeper and deeper. "Stop it, you stupid mutt!"

Tomoo growled. "It looks like I'll have to do it, then!" He tried to remove the dog from the wounded boy's arm, but then the dog sunk its claws into his shoulder, leaving three nasty gashes. "OW! GODDAMN MUTT! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" He then knocked the dog off of his shoulder and onto the floor. He grinned then and stood over the growling puppy. "If you want mercy, now's your chance, you piece of crap!"

"Stop it this instant!" Lucy cried.

"Shut up, you freak!" Tomoo hissed. "This way seems to be more effective!" He then slapped the dog, sending it flying across the floor until it hit the wall. The puppy whined from the blow and slowly got back up to its feet. Tomoo wasn't finished yet. He reached for the vase that was on the table...only it was gone. He frowned in confusion before suddenly he was hit from behind.

His eyes widened as he fell to the ground and saw the brown-haired girl from earlier standing over him. Her eyes were filled with anger and rage.

"Stop it! You shouldn't hurt a dog like this! Are you guys this sick that you'll resort to hurting the poor puppy! I never knew you had a dog! I didn't play a part in this, I swear! They knocked me out last night whenever they tried to get information out of me!" Hanako screamed. Somehow, Kaede felt that she was being honest, but there seemed to be more to the story than met the eye.

"What are you talking about?" One of the boys stammered. "You threw things at us whenever we came in!"

"Well, you went into my room while I was getting changed, you pervert! What else was I supposed to do! I swear, I never knew about that puppy! The next thing I knew when I regained consciousness, they had left and I overheard Tomoo snickering to his buddies about how lucky he was!" She repeated, and there were tears in her eyes.

"Shut up, you stupid bitch!" Tomoo cried. "Why the hell did you hit me with the vase?"

"You deserved it, you jerk!" Hanako screamed.

Kaede was feeling very confused about all of this. However, the boy who had gotten bitten decided to grab the vase and held it in his hands unsteadily. He walked over to the puppy and held the vase up over his head.

* * *

><p>Suddenly, a gunshot rang out. The boy who was holding the vase stumbled, blood streaming out of a hole in his head. He hit the floor, lifeless as a stump. There was an awkward silence in the room and then everyone screamed, including Kaede.<p>

"Hide, everyone!" Hanako screamed before ducking under the table. She was one of the fortunate ones. However, Tomoo was not so lucky. There was another gunshot that hit the TV, breaking it.

"Put the girl down or else you will all die here and now." A familiar voice growled. Kaede's eyes widened upon seeing the same boy from earlier holding a pistol in his hands. He did not look happy in the slightest.

"What do you want, you freak! Get the hell out of here!" The boy holding Kaede cried, but then Train vanished and reappeared behind him, holding the gun to his neck.

"Do you want me to shoot?" He growled. "Normally I hold back on killing children, but in your case, I'll make an exception."

"Don't do it!" Hanako screamed.

Too late. Train shot the kid through the neck. Tomoo, meanwhile, decided to do something desperate. He picked up the vase the other boy had dropped and flew at Train with it. "DIE!"

"Fool." Train responded, and he vanished before Tomoo could even hit him and shot the vase, breaking it into a million pieces. Then, he took the gun and shot Tomoo in the leg, effectively rendering him out of bounds. He grabbed Kaede, heedless of the blood on his clothes. "Are you all right?"

"Yes. Help the puppy, please." She groaned. He walked over to where the dog was and picked it up gently.

"He's not hurt that much, aside from a small bruise on his back." Train replied. "As for _you..._" He growled, turning to the last occupant and uninjured witness of the attack. "Did you conspire with them to kill this dog?"

"N-No, I didn't do anything! Spare me, please!" She begged.

"As long as you don't tell anyone. We're getting you out of here." He said to Kaede.

"Take me with you!" Hanako begged.

Train stared at her for a moment. "Fine. Come with us, but_ don't cause unnecessary trouble._ I'll take you guys to a safe hiding place. I have a place I need to go to."

* * *

><p>Creed smirked upon seeing the massacre. "My dear Train...you seem to have gotten even more interesting. Why are you sparing those brats, I wonder?"<p>

Suddenly, a member of Chronos appeared. "Is the Black Cat here right now? There's a message for him from the Elders. They are impressed with his killing of Director Kakuzawa, and they want to offer him a higher position in Chronos."

"Good evening, Sephiria." A cold voice responded. Sephiria turned to see Train standing there, holding two children and a puppy in his arms. "You mind taking care of these kids for me?"

* * *

><p>"Are we there yet?" A whiny voice cried.<p>

"Yeah, are we even there yet, Dad?" Another whiny voice said. Now there was a duet of whiny voices.

"No, now settle down you two and keep quiet!" A man snapped at his son and daughter, both of whom were being very irritating.

"But, Dad, I want to go see Yuka!" His son, a boy with black hair and blue eyes, begged.

"I want something to eat!" His daughter, the youngest, a girl with purple hair and eyes whined. She held a pink plush rabbit in her arms. "Mr. Bun-Bun wants some as well!"

"Kanae, Kouta, be quiet!" Their father demanded. Were children always this irritating?


	5. Chapter 5 Only the fairy tale

**A/N:Time to uppy-datty! Okay, maybe I waited a little too long to update this bad-ass story, but both Black Cat and Elfen Lied are so amazing that it's hard to figure out exactly how to combine them both together in such a seamless way that it seems believable. I suppose I do that pretty well, judging from all of the fans I have of my crossovers. Ah, well...I'm not going to quit writing, so don't worry your pretty little heads off! Anywho, pairings are Train/Kaede or Kaede/Kouta and maybe even a bit of Ho Yay between Train and the crazy Creed. BTW, I do know someone with this name... and it creeps me the hell out. Who names their kid that? Well, that WAS the first thing that popped into my mind when I first discovered Black Cat. Ah, well...now, time for the story. Kanae will NOT die. I repeat. Yuka MAY die...I know you fans would all love that...but maybe I will try and tone down her annoying, whiny nature a bit, but there's only so much of Yuka you can take before you just want to hit her in the face, right? **

**Chapter 5 On the Run **

* * *

><p>"Heartnet? What sort of joke is this? Are you now a <em>kidnapper?" <em>Sephiria cried upon seeing the cold, ruthless assassin of doom holding two children and an animal as if he never wanted to let them go. That only increased her suspicions some more about this entire situation. Since he seemed to ignore her, her anger only grew.

"Heartnet, I am talking...to YOU. What's with the children? The last I checked, Black Cat was still single and didn't have any kids."

Train only stared at her with cold golden eyes; the same he usually showed towards everyone else. Then he released the two children. The red-eyed one moved behind him and stared at Sephiria with wary eyes. The brown-eyed one merely looked around in worry before huddling near the red-eyed girl. The puppy merely barked, despite having a bloody wound on its back.

"What happened to your mission?" Sephiria asked coldly.

"It was finished. I killed Kakuzawa, like Chronos told me to. Kakuzawa was involved in an operation for torturing children, so I decided I'd take two of them with me, long story short. It's long and complicated, but for now, could you take them for me? I have a meeting with Creed to attend." Train said shortly before pushing Hanako and Kaede towards Sephiria.

Sephiria frowned for a moment as she let the information he had just told her sink in. So now, apparently, she was going to have been a babysitter for two kids she didn't even know, much less care about? Well, she didn't have any children yet, so why was Heartnet doing this to her?

She realized suddenly, that he was being compassionate. He was making sure that these two children (and the injured puppy) would have a normal life and not get swallowed up in the dark and brutal world of crime and death that he dealt with practically every day of his life. He didn't want them to get mixed up in it at all. But somehow, she knew, by looking at the red-eyed one, that she had already seen the worst of the world.

It made her feel sorry for the girl. It was true that orphans didn't live the best of lives out there, but still there had to be someone who cared enough to actually reach out to them and try to give them a second chance in life. What surprised her most was the fact that it was Train Heartnet, the cold, ruthless assassin who spared no prisoners when it came to murder and assassinating anyone Chronos saw as an enemy.

* * *

><p>The surprising thing about the feared and hated Black Cat was that he had a soft spot for animals, children, and women. He never took jobs that required killing children, made sure that children would never see their parents get killed in front of them, and generally shielded them from death. Sephiria knew why. The majority of the Chronos numbers knew one another's past very well.<p>

All of them were like family to each other, after all. They were all rejects of society who had been tossed aside like garbage by the families who didn't want them anymore. That was why they all banded together in the first place-in order to ensure that scum who bullied others or made life hell for people would be eradicated. Peace had to be permanent, so whenever a conflict was presented, they would go to the Chronos numbers in order to find a solution.

"Fine, Heartnet. Are these children...perhaps your friends at the orphanage?"

Upon seeing the glare he sent her way, she sighed. The man was totally a mystery to her, but perhaps that was what attracted the upper ranks of Chronos to him. He was an enigma and didn't speak much to others and was like a shadow. He barely made an impact on your life, and yet you could tell he was there when it mattered. He was just an introverted person who preferred being alone.

That didn't mean that it wasn't annoying when she tried to talk to him and he wouldn't answer. He was tenacious and stubborn to a fault. At times, she would have to remind herself that he was still a boy despite his cold nature and mature exterior. This was one of the times where she knew he still fell susceptible to the human nature of pity and sympathy.

"What are their names?" Sephiria inquired.

Train cast an enigmatic look her way before he vanished. "Ask them yourself. You'll have to find a vet for the dog, by the way. He was hurt. Some kids threw him against a wall."

Then he was gone.

Sephiria sighed. "That idiot...why does he _always_ leave his problems for me to deal with?" She growled. The red-eyed kid glared at her for a moment and didn't say anything. _Guess she's just like Heartnet, too. Great, dealing with one unfriendly guy is enough. _

"My name is Sephiria Arks. I'll be taking care of you girls while you're here. Tell me your names." She said in her best motherly tone. She frowned and paused, waiting for the girls to say something, anything at all.

It was the brunette who spoke first. "Is that a real sword?" She gushed.

Sephiria sheathed her sword before the brunette could get to it. "Civilians should not handle weapons, especially not children. You could get hurt. Leave it to the adults to handle weapons."

"You're a killer, aren't you?" The redhead challenged. "I can tell by the look in your eyes."

"Not exactly. You could just say that I am someone who wants to change the world for the better. You can't be afraid to do bad things sometimes, kid. Good things don't always work." Sephiria said ambiguously before changing the subject.

"I'm Hanako Kataru." The brunette said before smiling encouragingly at the redhead and nudging her forward. When she still didn't say anything, the brunette shoved her forward.

"My name is...Kaede. This is my puppy. Some mean boys hurt him, but Mr. Heartnet saved me. And him. So, please take care of him!"

"Doesn't he have a name?" Sephiria asked before staring the puppy down, who was calmly licking the wound. "You animals are all war veterans, aren't you? You treat a wound like it's nothing special."

"Humans are different." Kaede pointed out. "That doesn't apply to me."

Sephiria raised an eyebrow. "You look human to me, kid. Come on, let's go inside and get you kids to bed. It's really late."

She frowned at the moon. "Heartnet, you'd better pledge in and do some of the work, too. I'm not going to be a permanent surrogate mother. You hear me?"

She sighed. "Now what am I going to do?"

* * *

><p>"I'm glad you came on time, Train. I was afraid you wouldn't make it. So, how are the children?"<p>

Train's eyes widened. "How did you-"

"I have my ways, partner. Anyhow, the man we killed had a bunch of faithful devotees and now they're furious with Chronos. Chronos will probably have you off a bit more of their ranks just to give them a warning."

"I don't need to deal with them anymore. That place disgusted me."

"Don't you still have to stay at the orphanage?"

"Nope. I'm leaving and going somewhere else. Sephiria will raise the kids while I find somewhere else to live."

"You could always live at my place-"

"No, Creed. The times I have slept there, I have always woken up to find you near me. It creeps me out." Train muttered darkly.

"Oh, don't make that face, my dear Train. You know I hate it when you treat me like that!" Creed pouted.

Train frowned and sat down on the roof, staring at the night sky. It was a beautiful night as the stars shone down onto them. Train loved the sensation of looking up at the stars. He wondered dimly if his parents were up there watching him, and then dismissed that as idle fantasy, and sipped a little more of his milk.

* * *

><p>A brown-haired girl sat outside in the dark, crying and moaning. She banged on the door loudly. Her parents didn't hear her and continued laughing and talking.<p>

"I'm sorry I said those mean things!" She whined. Tears spilled down her face. She knew her mother cared about her, so why didn't she bother to open the darn door?

Suddenly, she heard movement behind her and saw a tall man in the doorway. She backed away.

"You're not my daddy."

"Now I am..._Mayu. Come on. It's time for us to do something fun." _

Mayu's eyes lit up. "Like what?"

"We have to do something you won't tell Mommy, okay? It'll be our little secret. Tell you what. You can read me a story first and then I'll get ready for you to make me happy, all right?" He said, before licking his lips.

"What do you mean?" She asked innocently.

"You know what I want, Mayu. I want in your body. Now, take it off." He ordered, before stepping toward the young girl.

"Get away from me, or else I'll scream. Mommy will hear and she'll come get me." Mayu whimpered before opening her mouth and screaming loudly. She looked up with hopeful eyes toward the door, but her mother didn't open the door. She screamed again and again. Finally, the door banged open just when the man was about to unzip his pants.

"What the hell do you think you are doing to my child?"

"I was fixing her wound."

"Get out this instant!" She cried before smacking him in the face.

The second she got her daughter inside the house, the woman's gaze turned harsh. "How dare you not stand up for yourself! What are you, a harlot? Resist them when they do that! Put on some clothes!"

She slapped the girl across the face.

"I'm sorry. Mom, I'm sorry."

"You don't sound sorry. Why don't you go upstairs and put on clothes like a normal human being?"


	6. Chapter 6 Train's Decision

**A/N:I'm backkkkk! I'm glad to see that everyone's doing all right! In the wake of such horrible disasters like the school shootings, I may tone down the violence a bit. Since these two shows are intended for mature audiences, the rating is T, but the violence is still exceeding T, so it'll be toned down some. I hate censorship, but this is a necessary evil. Speaking of necessary evil, maybe I should include Aiko and Nozomi in this chapter!**

**Chapter 6 Train's decision**

* * *

><p>It was so cold, and dark in here. Of course, she had grown so used to darkness that she didn't really mind it anymore. It was the only comfort she had now. She frowned and moved again, allowing for the only other occupant in the room to see her.<p>

He smiled, showing pale white teeth akin to that of a wolf's and beckoned for her to come forward. "It's time, Mayu. We're going to play a little _game, just between you and me. _Don't go running to Mama, because you don't want Daddy to get angry now, do you?"

The little girl near him just frowned. "You're not my daddy. You're nothing but a monster." She spat coldly. "I don't want to do anything today except read my books!"

She turned to leave, but he grabbed her by the arm.

"You're not going anywhere, missy. Your mother cannot find out about this. She already found me doing it to you once. She'll believe that you're a filthy creature and throw you out into the streets to die," He taunted before forcing her to sit down again. He started to take off her shoes and her socks and set them aside. He reached for her hair and undid her ribbons. Then he moved towards her pants, but she resisted.

She didn't expect to be held down and then something was pressed against her mouth and she passed out. When she woke, she found that her clothes were back on, only they were a different pair, and that her arms and her legs ached for some reason. The only thing Mayu understood about all of this was that whatever this mean man was doing to her was that it was not nice and it made her feel horrible. Should she go to her mother for help? The last time she had done that, though, her mother had yelled at her and called her a liar.

Did Mommy believe the bad man too easily? How could she not see how mean and cruel he was? Was this fake daddy nice to Mommy in order to win her over, and then mean to her only? Maybe he was actually nice and this was all her fault.

She had always heard that expression:your fault. Mayu was always the filthy one for refusing to play a game with her stepfather, she was always the rude one for not wanting to talk to her stepfather, she was always the stupid one for not addressing him properly in front of guests. She had grown used to this, honestly. The little girl didn't know anything else.

* * *

><p>The five year old frowned as she struggled to get up. She noticed then that the window was open. She could hear someone singing from somewhere far away, and it was a very sad song. But it was so beautiful that she couldn't help but listen to it.<p>

"Who sings this song?" She yelled.

The singing stopped all of a sudden. Then, it continued, until the window was slammed shut by her mother. "Honestly, why do people feel the need to make other people listen to their annoying voices all the time?" She complained.

* * *

><p>"Who was that singing?" Mayu asked.<p>

"A neighbor. Good god, they're annoying. They never stop singing and lately their kid has started, too. All tone-deaf, the lot of them!" She remarked scathingly. "What exactly were you doing here in this closest?" She accused.

"The mean man lured me in here and told me never to tell Mommy what happened. Then he made me go to sleep," Mayu explained.

Her mother's eyes widened. "He did WHAT to you? That's not okay! To think he would value the company of my daughter over me...what a disgusting man I married!" She yelled.

"Do you love me, Mommy?" Mayu asked innocently.

"Of course, but you're still annoying and you don't contribute to the productivity around here. You're lazy, slow, and stupid. No wonder the other kids don't talk to you." She scolded.

Mayu hung her head in shame.

"The next time he does _anything to you, tell me. _I'm going to knock his block off for this!" She growled before she stormed off.

Mayu couldn't help but smile. Maybe now her mother would finally believe in her and stop calling her useless.

She didn't expect to be slapped by her mother.

"He told me you lied and that you were just playing hide-and-seek. Is this true?" She demanded.

Mayu again shook her head. "No, I didn't lie!" Could her mother not see the evil aura emanating from the bad man? Mayu sure could, and it was horrifying to the young girl.

"Liar! Go to your room!" The mother scolded. She turned her accusing eyes to her now nervous husband. "You lied, didn't you? You did do something to her. Tell me." She demanded.

The man flinched. This was the first time she had ever really doubted his words, and this made him anxious. Was that stupid girl going to ruin his cover?

* * *

><p>Train Heartnet stood in the huge room, surrounded by the Chronos Elders, who were watching his every move with anxious eyes. He felt like a lab rat, but Train had long since grown used to the feeling. He was famous enough now to actually be of value to them, and that was good. Anything was better than being worthless in their eyes. That was the same as being dead in Train's book.<p>

"Well, what did you summon me for?" Train asked icily.

One smiled slightly. "Sharp as you ever were, Thirteen. The answer is simple: we want you to take on a new mission. There is a new species of human out there called Diclonius, and they are wicked beings capable of mass murder. They appear to be friendly and innocent, but they will wreak havoc if left to their own devices."

Train shrugged his shoulders. "Does this have anything to do with my last mission?"

Another nodded his head. "The man you eliminated was a higher-up in covering up the existence of Diclonius. That facility was an experimental facility designed to both isolate them from the human world and to test them. Your partner provided us with that much information. Apparently, he spent some time torturing another member of the facility, until he broke down and told him everything he knew."

Train nodded and took in the information. "Do I have to kill them?"

"Not necessarily. But, Heartnet, your partner informed us of a little problem. Is it true that you rescued a child from a bad scene? Does she go to that orphanage?"

Train frowned. "Yes. She's too traumatized to go back there. She also hated being there in the first place, and she was often bullied, too," He informed.

"I see. Well, we won't ask you to do anything drastic for the time being. Just keep an eye on her." They ordered.

Train bowed, but at the same time, he couldn't help but ask a question that was coming to the top of his mind. "Why are you concerned about her?"

For some reason, something changed in the main leader's gaze. "Nothing important, Heartnet. Now, take your leave."

As Train left, the elders cast worried stares at each other, over their screens.

* * *

><p>"He knows too much, doesn't he?" One asked.<p>

"That goes without saying. Train Heartnet has always been perceptive. Let's not worry about him for now. We need to keep an eye on Diskenth. He's been acting on his own lately, and I've got my suspicions about him-the man doesn't seem mentally stable."

"True."

* * *

><p>Kaede frowned at the meal in front of her, and then pushed it aside.<p>

"You don't want it?" Sephiria exclaimed in disbelief. "I spent a lot of time cooking this, you know. You could at least be grateful and eat a bit."

The pinkette shook her head. "I'm tired and I feel sick. I'm headed to bed. Hanako, good night." She said to the brunette, who looked up from her plate and smiled.

"I take it you two have been through a lot?" Sephiria asked as she sat down across from the other girl.

Hanako smiled blankly. "Yeah, for the most part. I can't believe I was outwitted by a bunch of dumb bullies!"

"Bullies are part of life." Sephiria said dully. "Not everyone will want to be your friend."

"Why?" Hanako asked.

"You'll know someday. Now get ready for bed." Sephiria said. "It's nearing two o'clock."

"Oh!" Hanako yelped.

* * *

><p>As soon as she was in her room, Sephiria noticed the white cat come in. "Come in, Heartnet." She sighed.<p>

His golden eyes scanned the room for a moment before he smiled. "Where are the girls?"

"In bed, asleep." She said. "They're a handful. You really want me to babysit?"

"I have no choice. There's a new mission for me."

"Just watch your back, okay?" Sephiria said, and then she left.

* * *

><p>Train walked into Kaede's room and watched her toss and turn in her bed.<p>

_Why did Creed tell the Council about her? What does she have to do with these Diclonii? Why is she important to them? _


	7. Chapter 7 The black cat meets Sven

**A/N:I apologize, since it's been a while since I last uploaded anything! This story is high on my priority list-it's just that it's been so long since I worked on it, that's all. Now, shall we head to another important character in the ELD universe-yes, I'm talking about Kouta and Kanae here. I want to try and flesh them out more...they never told us about Kouta's mother, so I want to figure it out myself. Okay, Train is sixteen here and Kaede is nine, so Train will be around twenty-two years old...when she is fifteen-i.e. when he is a Sweeper and is no longer a member of Chronos. Oh, and Sven appears in this chapter...first meeting of future partners Sven and Train . SQUEEEEEEE...**

* * *

><p>Chapter 7 The Black Cat meets the Leashed Cat<p>

The radio's music was quite loud, the lone occupant of the café thought as he sat at his table, waiting to be served. He scratched his hair with one hand and lit his cigarette with another. His orange eyes scanned the view outside the window, as if looking for intruders.

'Nothing interesting going on here, I see,' He thought in boredom as he tilted his head back and reclined in his seat.

"Sir, you're not allowed to smoke in here," A small voice said, hesitant and trembling, like that of a child who'd done something wrong.

The green-haired man turned his gaze in time to meet that of a woman who stood in front of his table, looking nervous. Instantly, a sign flickered on in his mind. 'Time to turn on the charm.' "Why, hello there, miss, what's your name? You're quite the cute young lady. Are you going to be my waitress for today?" He said as his eyes gleamed.

The woman blushed at the compliment, but she also seemed hesitant to accept it. "Uh...I already have a boyfriend, sir-and my name is M-Makoto."

"Makoto? What a lovely name that is. My name is Sven," Sven introduced.

"Sven? That's a charming name, too," The lady said sweetly. Suddenly, Sven heard loud footsteps, almost like that of thunder as another figure came to stand beside the woman, his fists tightening in rage.

Sven could barely even see the giant, as he stood nearly seven feet tall. He had a long brown beard and brown eyes full of rage. "ARE YOU FLIRTING WITH _**MY **__WIFE, BOY?" _He growled.

"Uh, uh..." Sven jumped in his seat and muttered out an awkward greeting. "Uh, hi. You're bigger than I thought you'd be. I didn't even notice you-"

"Well, you'd better know it, punk. It's all right," He shot a glance at the dark-haired girl, who seemed more afraid of her husband than of anything else. "Was he flirting with you?"

"No, we just talked and things." She said nervously.

"Don't you lie to me! Go back in the kitchen, you useless girl!" He boomed.

"Y-Yes, sir!" She said, and then like that, she turned and ran back into the kitchen.

"So, sir, may I take your order?" He boomed.

Sven raised an eyebrow at the odd way he treated his wife, but said nothing. Somehow, a few words came out. "Maybe you should treat your wife with a little more respect."

"WHAT WAS THAT, PUNK?" The man growled.

"I mean, you can treat her however you want!" He lied.

"What's your name, punk?" The man boomed.

"Sven. Sven Vollfied," Sven answered back.

"Very well then, _Sven, here's your menu." _The man said, slapping the menu on the table before walking away. "Call me back when you make up your mind about what to eat."

"I want coffee and a sandwich." Sven stumbled the words out of his mouth.

"Oh, and by the way, put out your cigarette. We don't smoke in here."

"Y-Yes, sir," Sven whined pathetically. 'As long as he doesn't push that girl too far, I don't think I'll snap. Why must their prices always be so high? Too bad my partner isn't here.'

He smiled as he thought about his partner. He was such a kind man and the two of them had worked together on many cases for so many years that Sven couldn't even remember when the two of them had first met. They hadn't gotten along at first, but then they had grown used to each other and grown close.

The woman returned, holding his coffee, and she set it down in front of him, then scurried off as quick as a mouse. 'If I wouldn't know better, I'd say he rules her life with an iron fist,' Sven thought, but decided not to say anything.

* * *

><p>The door to the cafe opened. 'Maybe it's just not one of their busy days.' He thought. Sven raised an eyebrow upon seeing a stranger walk in, wearing a suit and dark pants. 'Well, that's certainly a way to get noticed,' Sven thought as he studied the man, no boy.<p>

His hair was dark brown and it was messy and stuck up everywhere. Did the boy even put any effort at all into brushing his hair, he wondered? There was a serious look in his eyes. 'A kid his age needs to lighten up,'

"Can I help you?" The man from before said to the boy, who flashed him a frosty stare.

"I'd like something to eat," He said robotically.

"Welcome to our restaurant. You may sit down. And don't you flirt with my wife," He warned.

His wife, whom Sven realized was the only waitress in the place, came up and offered him a hasty greeting. Oddly enough, the boy's eyes softened. "It's all right."

"You're not that bad-looking. If you want, I can give you a special discount." She said before offering him a light smile. Sven sweat-dropped, it was obvious that she was attracted to the young boy, but who wouldn't be? Any woman would kill for those looks of his.

'Ugh, he's probably a ladies' man. He'll take all the women away from me,' Sven thought before he hit his head on the table. 'The ladies don't want me because I'm too old...'

'_Also because you smoke,' _his mental voice added.

His partner always irritated him about smoking, too.

"What would you like to ea-"

Suddenly, before anyone could react, the husband smacked the woman in the face, as a huge red welt appeared on her face.

"Y-Yosuke...y-you don't have to do this, not in front of other people..."

"Shut up, ya harlot!" The man spat. "You're my wife. You belong to me and me alone. I don't want to see you flirting with other men. You hear me? I don't want to see you flirting with her, little runt." He pointed at the boy, who just scowled.

"See, that's the kind of attitude I want to see," He said. "You look like the kind of person who'll put up with anything."

* * *

><p>The boy merely grimaced before turning his gaze to meet Sven's. Much to his surprise, he yawned. He approached Sven's table. "Hello there, officer," He drawled.<p>

Sven's eyes widened. "How did you-"

"Your card is sticking out of your pocket. You should keep better tabs on it," The boy replied coldly. Sven looked down in disbelief and realized that it was indeed sticking out.

"Ah, my, aren't you a sharp kid?"

"So, what do you do? Are you a cop?"

"Yep, I catch the bad guys, and I also try to get the ladies!"

The boy just hit his forehead. "I bet a lot of them avoid you," He said dryly.

Sven gasped. "How dare you, kid!"

The boy smirked.

"Why don't you smile, kid?" Sven asked. The boy turned his golden eyes to meet his-golden eyes, how unique. They were slitted, almost like a cat's.

"Smile? I don't need to smile," The boy said simply. He smirked as the waitress approached.

"What would you like to drink, sir?" She said softly.

"A bottle of milk would be just fine, thanks," He said as he smiled at her. "I saw what he did to you." He said quietly.

The woman looked up. "What?"

"I said, I saw what he did to you. You shouldn't let him treat you like that."

"It's all right. I'm his wife, so he has the right to do whatever he wants with me."

"No, that's not the way you should look at it." The boy said, but paused when the man came up and handed him his plate of food.

"Here, punk." He turned to his wife and smacked her in the face. "If I see you talking to him...what did I tell you the first time, ya stupid bitch?"

"I'm sorry, sir, I'm sorry..." The girl whined pathetically.

Sven noticed how ticked off the boy seemed, but he remained calm as he spoke, only with a faint tinge of ice to it.

"Stop manhandling her."

"I'm not going to let an outsider like you get involved, kid. Here's your food, again. Make sure you eat all of it." He said before practically dropping it on Sven's table.

The boy blinked for a few moments as he studied the food and then sat down. He touched the food for a moment, but then an idea came to his mind. He stood up. "I don't need it."

"What? You're going to eat that food. I made it for you." The man snapped.

"I don't need any of it." And like that, he knocked the plate of food onto the ground, spilling every last bit of it on the ground.

"Don't you DARE waste food, you little piece of crap," The man boomed as he picked up the boy by the lapels. "You hear me, punk?"

"Dear, put him down please, there's no need to-"

"Shut up, you stupid bi-"

"Don't you say another word to her," the boy remarked darkly. He glared at him. Somehow, the man shivered upon seeing the look in his eyes. Sven had to shiver, too. The boy's eyes were emotionless, almost as if there was a killer lurking underneath that gaze...a ruthless one, at that.

"Sure, sir...Sure...uh, you can leave if you want...please do leave." He begged.

"I won't be coming back," The boy said darkly. "You ought to know how to treat your women. Women are not your playthings."

"I couldn't agree with you more. Maybe you should join the police force. You seem like you'd be good at it. You seem good at intimidating people."

A wry smile crossed the boy's face. "No thank you. I already work." He said ambiguously.

"Work? At what?" Sven asked.

The boy chuckled. "They say a man never reveals all of his secrets."

"True," Sven said. "My name is Sven...Sven Vollfied. Nice to meet you."

"Oh," The boy said. "I'm afraid I won't need the milk, either." He spilled it on the ground. "There's no need to cry over it now."

He turned to walk out the door.

'What a kid. He sure is weird though.' "You sure you don't need any lunch?"

"Nope." The boy said coldly. With that, he left, leaving behind a confused Sven.

'There's something not right about that kid. But he seemed pretty nice for being so quiet.'

* * *

><p>"Yo, Annette, any customers today?"<p>

The middle-aged woman looked up from where she was cleaning the bar and smiled. "Oh, good to see you again. Where's your partner at?"

"He's out on another case. I'm by myself today." Sven said.

"No lady friends?" She teased.

"No one besides you," He teased back.

"Now, now, you know I'm not looking for ANY MORE relationships."

Sven's face fell.

"Now, now, don't get so depressed, Sven. You need tips?"

"Yeah. Not really...I ran into someone strange at a cafe and..." His eyes widened as he realized that he had seen a strange symbol on the boy's neck as he left. It almost resembled something in Roman numerals.

"There was a boy. He had a number on his neck," He explained.

Annette's eyes grew sharp. "Come again?"

"A number on his neck. Why? Isn't that just some kind of tattoo?"

He noticed her eyes sharpen. "What exactly did this number look like?"

"Well, it was a Roman numeral, but he seemed rather nice, so I don't see what's-"

"Sven, you are very lucky indeed. I believe you crossed paths with a member of Chronos. One of their erasers, I assume."

"You mean I just let a criminal go?" Sven exclaimed.

Annette just chuckled. "Criminals come in all shapes and sizes. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them were the charming ones. How old was this boy?"

"Eighteen, maybe even sixteen."

"And what was his roman numeral?"

"Uh, thirteen."

Another smile crossed her face. "Well, then, I'd say you were _extremely lucky, _Sven."

"Why?"

"Because...that boy is one of the most feared assassins of all, Black Cat."

"I've heard of the Black Cat." Sven said, his jaw agape in shock. "You mean to say that I actually ran into the Black Cat?"

"You're lucky. You crossed paths with the Black Cat, and yet you weren't killed."

"He knew that I was a police officer, too." Sven confessed.

"Criminals like him know how to sniff out police officers. That's how they avoid being caught," Annette said. "Chronos claims that they're doing justice, but in reality they're nothing but criminals. Did you hear about that orphanage killing? They say that two children are missing and two are dead. The sole survivor was shot in the leg and now he's a cripple. He's claimed that a crazy guy went in there and shot most of the kids. I believe that the kid's somehow connected to it."

"That's pretty grim. Who would kill children?"

"Who knows? A depraved sort of individual. Watch yourself, Sven. The world isn't the safe place you imagine it to be." She said. As Sven walked out, she joked, "Are you sure you won't need something to eat?"

"Nope, I already ate." Sven said.

"And, please don't smoke in here." She chided.

"Bad habit."

"One of these days, smoking's going to kill you," She said matter-of-factly.

"I know," He whined as he walked out, his mind still on the mysterious assassin he had just met.

* * *

><p>Kouta was bored. No, he was phenomenally bored. His dad had refused to let him out today. For some reason, his dad thought that he and his little sister would become the next victims of the orphanage killing. "No, dad, you're paranoid," He whined as he stared out the window. His eyes widened upon seeing a dark-haired boy pass by their house.<p>

For a moment, their eyes met. Kouta swore that there was a strange aura emanating from him, and then he was GONE, in a flash. He blinked.

"Hey, stupid brother, what're you looking at?" A voice said, whiny and bratty.

Kouta sighed as his sister joined him. His seven-year old sister was annoying and a pain in the butt. She stared at him with violet eyes full of questions. "Nothing."

"Big brother's stupid. He went and got yelled at again, didn't he? Mr. Bun Bun thinks so, too." She said before sticking up her stuffed rabbit.

"He isn't real." Kouta retorted.

Kanae just kicked him in the shin.

"Kanae, what have I told you about your habit of kicking people? I told you not to do it."

"Bleah. Onii-chan's an idiot." She said.

Kouta slapped her in the face. "Don't you ever call me stupid. I'm the older brother, so you should listen to me!"

"Why should I listen to the older brother when he's the stupid one?"

Kouta slapped her again just as their father walked in.

"Kouta, what did I tell you about hitting your sister?"

"Not to do it," Kouta whined.

"Go to your room."

"But dad-"

"I said, go up to your room."

Reluctantly, Kouta obeyed.

"Kanae," Kouta's dad said, "You mustn't provoke him so much. You know Kouta hasn't been the same since his mother died."

"But mama's up in heaven now." Kanae said.

"Yes, she is, and that's why she expects you to be a very good girl, okay? She wouldn't be very happy at you being bratty again."

"I can't help it. I want to cheer him up. I don't like seeing him depressed. I don't want to see Yuka! She's creepy, hitting on my brother like that! They can't get married, they're cousins!"

Kouta's dad sighed. "I know. She's just spacey. She'll grow up. But as a kid, my sister said the same thing about my dad."

"We have a weird family." Kanae huffed.

"Tell me about it." Kouta's dad said. "Right now, you should just try and cheer up your brother, okay?"

"Okay."


	8. Chapter 8 Time skip

**A/N:Time for that usual disclaimer! I don't own anything but my ideas for this series. ^^ Hope you enjoy the AU plot, which will diverge somewhat from the ELD plot, but it might stick to the Black Cat plot. I plan to have Train become a sweeper and everything. **

**Chapter 8 The next mission **

* * *

><p>Train Heartnet stood in front of the Chronos Elders, wondering why on earth he was called out here again when he had already been to see them no less than a week ago. So why were they seeing him now, he wondered?<p>

"Black Cat," One began, smiling faintly at Train, "We have been very impressed with your commitment to our mission throughout the years we have trained you, raised you, and taken care of you. You have never failed to eliminate any target and you are swift and efficient. You are indeed one of our most talented assassins."

Train smirked slightly, indicating that he was indeed impressed with that remark. However, the assassin knew there was another reason they had called him back here. "Does it have to do with my new stowaway?"

A smile tugged at another's lips. "You see...about that girl...she is special, Heartnet. She is not a human. Have you seen those horns? They belong to a species known as Diclonius. She can kill many humans if she wanted to. She has deadly power, and thus she is a threat to society."

Train chuckled upon hearing that. It almost reminded him of himself. Being alone all the time and having absolutely no one to look after was heartwrenching, not to mention unbearably hard at times. Maybe that was why he had let that young girl in and taken care of her in the first place. Perhaps they had found harmony in each others' presence.

Maybe it was because they were both orphans. They had no one else in the world besides themselves, and that was how they had bonded. They had seen that they shared a common bond, and so the two had formed strong threads around one another that could not be seen or heard, yet they were there.

"...She's not a killer. Not the girl that I know." He said quietly.

The first one spoke up again. "Heartnet, you are being naive. The girl has a short time until her powers awaken. Then she will hurt someone if she is not careful with them. She must be taken to that facility we asked you to sneak into. They will monitor her."

"You're telling me to abandon a child?" Train said softly, trying hard to show no anger but apparently one of the Elders sensed it, for he shook a little, trying to tear his gaze away from the angry golden eyes of the Black Cat.

"No, Heartnet, we are just telling you that we cannot afford to look after her for much longer. Take her back where she belongs."

"She does not belong in the world of humans." Train said slowly. "We could always raise her here as an assassin. You said she specializes in killing." But would he really allow an innocent little girl like her to be exposed to such sick ways? No, he wanted her to grow up free of such injustices. So he would...really throw away his position in Chronos, all of that fear and respect...

Creed appeared then. "Do not worry, Train. I will keep you with that child. You see, he must keep that child with him. The two of them are friends now."

Another Elder shook his head at them. "Enough of this nonsense. Bring the girl to see us, Heartnet. Then we will decide what to do with her."

Train nodded slowly. He turned to Creed, who was smirking.

"Is this not what you wanted?" He said slowly. "

"Dammit, Creed, you too! You honestly want me to turn that girl into a puppet?"

Creed smiled evilly. "Train, you forget that Chronos always needs new people to help save the world. You may as well repay that girl somehow. If it means teaching her to love her abilities and enjoy killing, then Chronos will be satisified."

Train just rolled his eyes. "I do it because it's for the betterment of the world."

Creed stared at him for a few moments. "Say, Train, I've been wondering...what do you think of Chronos? Is it right or wrong?"

Train tossed him an askance look. "Don't say such things. I'm headed to go get Kaede."

* * *

><p>Kaede looked up to see Train standing there, a serious look on his face. "What do you want with me?" She asked.<p>

"My bosses wish to see you. They want you to do several things. They either want you to serve them, be captured and sent to a facility that takes care of people like you, or they want you to die. What's your choice?" Train said in a cold tone that he pretended to feel, but in reality he could feel his heart breaking as he said them.

"Why? Why would they want to hurt me? I WON'T LET THEM TAKE YOU FROM ME!" She cried as suddenly a strange feeling came over her and suddenly Train noticed a set of invisible hands coming toward him. Train dodged it, watching in awe as her arms went up to the wall, ripping a hole in it like it was nothing.

"What are you doing?" Train said to the girl, who was fascinated by her new powers, and wasn't really paying attention. Now she was trying to use her arms to reach the cookie jar that sat up on the shelf.

"This is so cool..." She trailed off. Hanako stared in alarm. The dog started to bark loudly, and he whined. He obviously didn't like this new ability.

When she heard him whining, she reached out with her new powers and used the arms to stroke the dog, which made him happy but still he was wary. When she heard him whine, the arms disappeared, leaving behind a confused Kaede. "Are you serious, Mr. Heartnet? I really have to leave everything behind like this?"

"You can make your own choice, of course. The last thing I want you to do is follow in my footsteps, Kaede. Don't become like me. Don't kill anyone."

Kaede followed after him, nervously. Hanako waited impatiently.

"This is your choice, girl. You will either serve us, return to the facility, or die."

Kaede looked at them all. She smirked. "Neither. I choose to live, but I don't want anyone telling me how to live. I'll live on my own." She extended her arms out at one of the Elders and accidentally decapitated him in a pool of blood. Kaede watched in horror.

"I didn't mean to kill him-it was an accident!" She cried.

The others were rounding on her now. "There is no escape for her now! She must die!"

Kaede had no choice. She had to flee. She ran past Train, with tears slipping down her face. "I'm sorry. I'm afraid our time together ends here."

"But, Kaede-" Train cried out. She fled past him. It would take several years before he would see her again.

* * *

><p>5 years later<p>

Hanako and the dog were taken care of by Sephiria, and eventually Hanako herself enrolled into Chronos and became a skilled assassin. She enjoyed her job and became one of Train's closest allies.

Train got out of his bed, noticing how his hair stuck up everywhere...again. "Time for another mission."

He greeted Hanako, who was now fourteen years old and a good assassin. She had become more cold over the years, but she still retained a good deal of affection for him. Her dog helped her out a lot with assassin missions, too.

"I wonder where Kaede went." Hanako whispered softly.

Train's face fell. "Who knows? It's not like we'll meet again."

* * *

><p>A shopkeeper looked appraisingly at his newest customer. "Do you like that garb, madam? It's said to be from some foreign country."<p>

The girl in front of him was quite cute for her age, with short chestnut-brown hair that fell down to her neck, a slim figure, and a petite build. Her turquoise orbs flickered over to his before she smiled dazzlingly. "Sure I do. What's it called?"

"It's a yukata." He said.

"I'll take it." She said.

"What's your name, madam?" He asked, watching as she took out some money to pay him with.

"Name's Saya. Saya Minatsuki. I'm a Sweeper and I'm looking for some prey to catch."

"A sweeper, eh? Quite a rough business to go into, especially for a lady." He said gently as he handed her the change she needed.

"I can handle myself!" She said as she bounded out of the room.

She smiled as she walked down the street and unrolled the poster of the person she was supposed to catch. "Let's see...a Chronos Number...ooh, looks like I snagged someone BIG this time...Number Thirteen...Black Cat?"

She froze as she saw the picture of the apathetic teenager with golden eyes. They looked so familiar. She remembered now. This was the boy who'd killed her father but spared her mother. He had saved her life that day and had taken her father's. He had grown up into this cold-hearted killer?

She gaped at the large amount of money they offered for his capture..."That's a lot of money for a Chronos Number. He must be big." She whispered to herself.

A young girl with brown hair bumped into her and apologized. "I'm sincerely sorry." She whimpered. She appeared to be around eleven or twelve years old.

"No, it's my fault for not watching where I was going. Where are you headed?"

"I need to hide from my daddy! He did mean things to me!"


	9. Chapter 9 Saya vs Train

**A/N:Now here we go with a continuation of the main storyline. Well, I guess watching The Great Saiyaman DBZ arc has given me inspiration for Train's wacky character. Ya gotta love Train Heartnet. In the eight years that have passed, Train has adopted his wacky persona he has with Sven because it's a good cover and besides he has friends by him now, so he's not exactly the loner he was before. **

**Chapter 9 Reunion**

* * *

><p>Saya Minatsuki could honestly say that this day was turning out to be quite extraordinary. First, she had not expected to get a wanted poster for the one and only Black Cat, who was an enigmatic assassin. Very little was known about him aside from his nickname-his parentage was a mystery, his past a mystery-heck, the guy rarely if ever appeared on the news.<p>

He was supposedly an assassin that struck great fear in the hearts of others, as she found out when trying to look for leads on Black Cat.

"Hey, have you seen this man? I'm looking for him!" She asked a random man walking by.

Instantly, his face grew pale. "That...you'd better give up on that guy, madam. He's a killer...it's bad luck to even speak his name!"

With that, the man took off running, leaving behind a confused Saya with her unexpected guest, a little girl.

"What's your name?"

"M-Mayu," The girl sniffled. She sure was a cute kid, Saya thought. Could Saya ever see herself doing something like that in the future, being a parent or something?

She flushed three shades of red then. "What the heck am I thinking?"

She walked by a cafe, and then she heard a yell.

"HEY, COME BACK HERE, YOU LITTLE RUNT! YOU TOOK MY MILK!" A male voice cried.

Curious, Saya turned around in time to see a blur racing ahead of them until it vanished. "Hang on, kid. I have something to do first."

'Crime always seems to come whenever I'm slacking off,' She thought to herself as she was determined to find the burglar. She frowned as she looked up and down, but she couldn't see him anywhere...until...

"Hey there, care to try a sample of some milk?" A cheerfree voice said to her left. She turned to see a young man who looked exactly like the Black Cat on the wanted poster she had picked up. He was smiling gently and holding the bottle of milk in his arms. There was a white cat beside him for some reason.

"Hey, you're the Black Cat, aren't you?" She said threateningly, coming towards the boy, who gasped and stepped backwards.

"H-How did you know that?" Train cried in alarm. "I haven't told anyone that!"

"Oh, your name is right here on this poster! Black Cat, you're under arrest!" She cried before brandishing it right in front of him.

"Uh...um, about the milk, it's nothing major, I tell you. He was just about to throw his milk away, so I figured it'd be okay if I borrowed it from him!" Train cried, waving his arms about in panic. He started to walk past her.

"You're _not _going anywhere, buddy boy! You're under arrest!" Saya said before pointing a gun at him.

"You wouldn't really point a gun at an innocent guy like _me,_ would you?" Train cried, feeling inwardly very exasperated at how easily he had blown his cover. He had just wanted a little milk and now he had gotten himself in this sort of situation!

'Calm down, calm down. The great Black Cat always manages to get himself out of any situation, no matter how bad it is!' He thought. 'Think, Train, think.'

"Hey, uh, would you drop charges against me if I gave you some of the milk?" He said in exasperation.

"You're trying to buy me off with that! No way, mister!" She cried.

She paused then as she noticed the cat nearby meowing loudly.

"Oh, here you go," He said as he poured some milk for the cat, "This cat is my buddy. We're both stray cats."

"I see. Well, the stray cat is about to become a prison cat if he doesn't cooperate with me!" Saya cried out. 'Well, he seems innocuous, but there's a reason he's on the wanted poster.'

Train paused for a moment. "Did you hear that?" He said, suddenly losing his cheerfree demeanor.

"Hear what?" Saya said in annoyance.

* * *

><p>"Put your hands up, both of you!" A criminal said as he darted out, holding a gun.<p>

"You wouldn't shoot a Sweeper, would you!?" Saya said, but gasped then as she was shot in the shoulder.

"I don't show mercy to women!"

"What a pity," A new voice said and Saya watched as the golden-eyed boy knocked the man to the ground. He held a silver and gold pistol in his hands with the mark of thirteen on it. "You make criminals like me look like a pussy cat."

"Ha, so you show your true colors, Black Cat!" Saya said triumphantly.

"Are you insane? I just saved you here and now you _still _want to arrest me?" Train cried out in alarm.

"Ha, so you're Black Cat? This must be my lucky day!" The criminal cried, trying to run toward Train, but Train lazily dodged.

"I'm over here, you idiot. Do you think you can catch me?" Train said while stifling a yawn.

Annoyed, the poor criminal tried to hit Train over and over but failed as Train ended up knocking him out.

"I think I'll kill him now," He said.

"Definitely not!" Saya cried.

Train stared at her as though she was nuts. "Why not? He was being annoying."

Saya frowned. "Black Cat, let's continue our conversation from before! Come with me, you're under arrest!"

"The name is _Train Heartnet. _Black Cat is merely a pseudonym," Train supplied helpfully.

"Who cares about something that insignificant? Train, you're under arrest!" Saya cried.

Train grinned. "Whatever, you'll have to catch me first!" Then he jumped right off the roof, much to her astonishment and leapt onto another building. "See you later, Miss Sweeper!"

"Don't you dare run away from me! I have to catch him, his bounty will give me a lot of money, something of which I'm lacking now!" She cried out, very frustrated now. 'Man, Black Cat sure is a character.'

* * *

><p>Train had to laugh at his triumphant escape. "Well, this has been quite amusing. I didn't honestly think a Sweeper would catch onto me that fast!" He said to himself as he drank his glass of milk. He paused as someone approached.<p>

"Hey, there, what are you doing goofing off?" The voice belonged to that of Sephiria. "I had to go looking all over the city for you, Heartnet. I should've known you'd start trouble."

"Heh heh, that's just how I am, Sephiria!" Train said before smiling. "So, can we overlook my being found and chased by a Sweeper?"

The dangerous glint that came into Sephiria's eyes then told him the answer would be no. "You big idiot! Heartnet, what part of _stay undercover and keep quiet do you not understand?" _

"Aw, man, being quiet is so dull! I wanna have funnnn!" Train complained, sulking.

"Heartnet, you're acting like a little kid now and it's pretty pitiful, considering you're an adult now." Sephiria scolded.

When he didn't say anything, she softened. "So...will you kill that Sweeper?"

"...No, she's a woman, Sephiria. You know what my code of conduct is." Train whispered.

"So, does that apply to me, too?" She asked.

"Nope, whiny women don't count!"

WHAM!

Five seconds later, Train now had a huge bruise on his head.

"I guess I deserved that one, huh?" He chuckled darkly.

"Honestly, Heartnet, your personality has done a major 180. You used to be all serious and now you laugh and smile a lot more. What caused you to change?" Sephiria questioned.

Train just blinked. "...I guess, I decided it was more fun to relax and have a good time rather than get all serious 100% of the time!"

"Is that so, huh?" She trailed off skeptically.

* * *

><p>"You're not getting away, you stupid cat!" Saya cried as she ran and then suddenly she collided with someone.<p>

"Hey, watch where you're going-might I be of assistance, young lady?" A new voice said.

Saya got up in time to see a green-haired man with an eyepatch on over one eye staring at her with gentle eyes. He was concerned about her, apparently. "Uh, no...I'm fine, thank you."

"That's good to know!" He chirped, "My name's Sven, Sven Vollfied. What's yours?"


	10. Chapter 10 Lost and Found

**A/N:Well, it's been a good three months since the last update! I don't honestly believe it. **

**Chapter 10 Black Cat meets Nyuu, part 1**

* * *

><p>Saya frowned at the man in front of her, of all the times to get separated from a potential suspect she was chasing, now was the worst imaginable time! "Um, if you don't mind me, sir, I'll be on my way-"<p>

"Hang on a minute there, young lady. Let me help you," Sven said, smiling at her lightly.

"But, I need to chase down a wanted man! I don't need your help to do that!" Saya protested.

Sven's eyes lit up. "Oh, really now? That's interesting...who are you pursuing? I might be able to help you...I am a Sweeper, after all."

Saya smiled, "So am I. This young girl also needs help." She said before pointing at Mayu, who had her pants down and only her underwear showing.

"What happened to you?" Sven said in concern.

The girl looked at him with honey-brown eyes, "My...stepfather...he makes me do horrible things...if I don't comply, he gets mean."

Sven looked absolutely enraged. "You're a Sweeper, too, aren't you? We should find out where she lives, and arrest her stepfather for sexual abuse!"

"Wait, I need to bring in the Black Cat first! I just ran into him and was pursuing him, but I seem to have lost track of him," Saya exclaimed.

Sven stared at her for a few moments, "The Black Cat? I've met him before, years ago...he was unique. He's a ruthless criminal, isn't he? I agree with you that he can't be allowed to do as he pleases, but right now, this little girl is in trouble, so her needs come first."

Saya's face flushed. "What? Don't tell me you don't even feel the need to carry out justice because of your stupid gentlemanly demeanor!"

Sven's eye narrowed. "Excuse me, lady, but a lady's needs come _before_ crime-fighting. If there are beautiful or scared young ladies in need of help, they have to be saved! It's common sense, don't you understand?"

"Only if I was a sexist jerk who thinks women can't do anything for themselves," Saya muttered.

"All right, all right, no fighting, you two! You need to get along! How can you expect to solve any problems that way?" Train scolded, getting in between the both of them. He sipped some of his milk.

"There he is! It's the Black Cat!" Saya cried.

"Hey, you're right! It is him! Should we get him?" Sven said, which freaked out Train.

"Hey, hey, I'm not even _committing _any crimes. I'm just talking to you and drinking milk. What's wrong with that?" Train protested.

* * *

><p>"That's ignoring the fact that you're a wanted criminal, Black Cat!" Saya cried, but Sven stopped her. He put his hand in front of her.<p>

"Hang on...I met you years ago and you stopped that guy in the restaurant from beating up on that girl, remember? So you can't be all that bad." Sven said sharply.

Train looked at him for a few moments and then his golden eyes lit up. "That's right! You were that guy in the hat who was an FBI agent! I thought I knew you from somewhere! So what brings you out here...Mr...err?"

'Something's different about him...when I first met him, he was depressed and serious...now he's light-hearted and easygoing...what made him change so much?' Sven thought. "My name is Sven. Sven Vollfied. Black Cat, I would arrest you, but you're not doing anything wrong right now. Mind telling me why you're here, Black Cat-"

"My name's Train. Train Heartnet; call me that instead of Black Cat. You have no idea how infuriating it is to be addressed by that and not your real name," Train said softly. His eyes alighted on the fleeing brunette. "Hey, she's getting away."

"That's all right. We were just on our way to that girl's house to arrest her father, anyway. He's been sexually abusing her." Sven explained.

Train's eyes narrowed. "I see...scumbags like that shouldn't be allowed to have children."

Sven nodded his head. "Yes...Miss Saya, why don't you go arrest him while 'Train' and I have a nice talk over some lunch?"

Saya nodded and then casted a wary glance at Train before she headed off after the little girl.

Train watched her leave. "Geez, why on earth is she convinced I'm the devil incarnate? I'm not that bad!" He whined, scratching his brown hair with one hand.

"So, you're still a member of Chronos, I take it?" Sven asked quietly.

"Yes," Train said darkly, "Though...you could say my loyalties have shifted a bit."

* * *

><p>Sven watched the young man closely. He spotted his gun hanging from its holster around his waist, but he didn't seem to be wearing any other weapons and his outfit seemed more casual, unless you counted the black cape he wore over it.<p>

Even then, he seemed to act like a completely different person, personality wise. He acted like how a young adult should act...no, he acted childish at times. It was strange...talking to this man.

"So, where do you wanna eat?"

Train shrugged his shoulders. "Anywhere's preferable. So long as I'm not recognized."

"Hmm...how about we go somewhere nice? How about this nice place I know..."

A few minutes later, they had stopped in front of a little shop. Train looked around eagerly.

"So...what's in here?" Train asked.

"A restaurant...where we eat food. She's a friend of mine." He said as he pushed the door open, and then motioned for Train to enter. "Yo, Annette! I'm back!"

* * *

><p>A middle-aged woman with blond hair chuckled, looking up from the counter she was currently sweeping with a dusty rag. "Sven. I'm glad you decided to stop by. What's this...you've brought company with you."<p>

Train eyed the middle-aged woman curiously. "What's up? I'm Train Heartnet! Nice to meet ya! Can ya bring me any food?"

At this, the woman's eyes traveled to the tattoo around his neck. "So...you're a Chronos member, huh? Should I serve you any food at all?"

Train froze. "...Why not?" He said in annoyance.

"Annette here is a former Sweeper like I am. She doesn't trust criminals like I do," Sven said before smiling in a way that made Train want to punch him.

Train just sighed before settling down in a seat, still noticing how she was looking at him in suspicion. "...Hey, I'm not that bad."

Annette looked at him for a long moment. "...I see. I'll have to decide whether or not you're trustworthy myself. Sit down and have a drink."

Train eyed her for a moment and then smirked slightly. "I'll have some milk, please! Milk, milk, milk!"

Sven raised a brow. "What made you act so different over these last few years, Heartnet?"

"Train, please," Train cut in.

"Fine. Train, how come your personality has changed?" Sven asked.

Train sighed, "There was a girl I tried to protect a few years ago...I couldn't save her...she ran off and was presumably captured again...there's nothing I can do for her now. I feel so ashamed of myself for not trying harder," His fists tightened.

"It's not your fault if she decided to be like that," Sven said, smoking a bit more.

"Oh, and Sven, please put out that cigarette," Annette chided.

Sven pouted, but rubbed it out with his hand.

"Why smoke so much?" Train asked.

"The past...I'd like to forget about my past, Train."

Train smiled sympathetically. "I can understand."

* * *

><p>The door opened then and a boy and girl stepped in, both arguing. Train studied them closely. The boy had short black hair and blue eyes and the girl had purple hair and eyes.<p>

"Stupid Onii-chan, now we're lost! We were supposed to go see Yuka!"

"I know, Kanae, stop arguing with me," The boy groaned.

"Looks like I have more customers," Annette said as she set down a glass of milk for Train and some tea for Sven.

"What are we going to do about that girl we found unconscious near Yuka's house?" The boy said.

"She certainly looks weird. I mean, she has pink hair-"

"This coming from you with purple hair, Kanae. You ought not to accuse her."

The girl looked mad. "Stupid Kouta! You can't trust her! She's suspicious! Kanae remembers how years ago she saw a girl who looked like that with pink hair, red eyes and horns...killing people at the festival with these weird arms..."

At that instant, Train nearly dropped his glass of milk, and stood up. "Did you say she had horns and red eyes? Where is she?" He cried.

The girl looked at him. "She's at our cousin's house. She doesn't remember anything except saying the word Nyuu. So that's what we called her."

"I see..."

"Why? Do you know her?" Kanae asked.

"No...it was just a stupid question," Train responded, walking back over to where Sven was sitting.

"What was that about?" Sven asked.

"That's the person I failed to save. And I think I've found her again," Train said,in the tone of the one and only Black Cat.

"So, what will you do?" Sven asked.

Train smirked. "...I'll never lose her again. The Black Cat never loses what he keeps. It'd be bad luck if he did."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:Next chapter is here, people! Expect an update for Alchemist's Reincarnation, too. I know I have too many stories syndrome, but hey I work one or two at a time. That's just my style. Lately, Game of the Future has been my focus, but I'm intending on working on my crossovers and updating my PH stuff. Stay tuned. **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11 Alliance<strong>

She was always alone, for most of her life. She was never human and never would be, no matter how hard she tried to be. Normal humans didn't possess horns on their heads, nor did they possess fleets of arms invisible to the human eye that could cut someone's head off with ease. Though they had proved vital in grabbing things off people's shelves when she needed somewhere to stay while on the run.

Lucy regained consciousness over her other, brain-dead personality, Nyuu, and sat up. Last thing she remembered, she had been near Kouta, and that same stupid girl who had called her a horned freak all those years ago was there, shielding him. She was still alive, only spared because Kouta had managed to make her see reason and not snap at him because he only wanted to not hurt her feelings. Sure, she had wanted to kill them, but when Kouta's father heard the arguing children, he had marched right over and told them all to talk it over peacefully, regardless of how much Lucy tried to kill him, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

So she had run away after they had left for their homes and had then spent the next few years on the run until she was captured by _them. _Chronos had decided to turn a blind eye to the suffering of her kind. Perhaps that meant _he, too, _had turned his back on her.

She formed a mental image of the one man she had trusted above anyone else, his golden eyes glinting like a cat's in the moonlight, his long auburn hair, and his cold, dark personality, one that suited someone as far removed from humanity as he was. Where was he, now? Why hadn't he come to save her yet? She froze upon hearing voices and the sound of the screen door being pushed back.

"Nyuu?" Kouta's voice, followed by that dumb girl, the sister, and...one other...a very familiar voice.

"...Is she really here? I need to see her," It sounded earnest and deep.

* * *

><p>"...Nyuu, you have a guest!" Yuka cried, swinging the door open to reveal a tall young man with spiky brown hair and golden eyes wearing a blue and white outfit with dark pants. He had the same tattoo above his chest, titled thirteen. Her heart pounded in her chest, but at the same time, she felt agitated and angered, angered with him for leaving her for so long.<p>

Her vectors extended a little.

"Put those away!" Kanae piped up.

"...It is you! Lucy!" The dark-haired man cried, energetically running towards her. Her vectors aimed at him, she was surprised when he dodged them and landed in front of her, smirking broadly, in a manner most unlike that of the Black Cat she remembered. "Hi? Miss me?"

Tears came out of the Diclonius's eyes then as she embraced him in a hug. "You idiot...where have you been? I was waiting for you to come back...all this time..." She moaned.

"I was waiting to see you as well, Lucy," The Black Cat said impishly, his golden eyes dancing in delight. "So, you wanna hang out?"

A few moments later, Train was hanging upside down from one of Lucy's vectors as she was holding him in anger.

"How can you say that so casually? You left me behind!" She said.

"Nyuu can talk?" Kouta and Yuka said together.

"Told ya she was pretending to not know how to talk."

"I have another personality," Lucy muttered.

"Ha, she's schizophrenic," Kanae said in joy.

Everyone glared at Kanae, and she shriveled slightly.

"She's a killer, you know..." She mumbled.

"So? People aren't always what they seem, princess," Train said, making Kanae blush.

"Don't you flirt with me!" Kanae cried.

Train just smirked. "I was only teasing," He said lightly. His gaze went to rest on Saya and Sven, who were both watching in curiosity.

"Who is she, Train?" Sven asked.

"This is my friend. If you could give us some time alone..."

A few moments later, Train and Lucy both sat at each other's feet.

"You've grown so much, Lucy. I barely recognized you." Train whispered.

"So have you...I missed you, Train," Lucy said softly. "I honestly thought you'd betrayed me with those filthy humans."

"Humans aren't filthy...it's all a matter of looking at things. I'm more hopeful now. Even if I still belong to Chronos, I'm not their lackey one hundred percent!" Train said before smiling.

"You never used to smile like that before," She said. "You were always so dark and creepy."

"Well, no one could smile in a place like that," Train remarked bitterly, "Tomoo and his gang made certain of that. I came because I heard you were here. What happened to your head?"

"...Someone shot me...and I can only contain my true personality for a little while, and then my other self takes over. It's sort of like you with your assassin side, isn't it? One side is heads, the other is tails," She said and whimpered as a sense of pain throbbed through her head.

"Relax," Train said. "You'll be just fine. I won't let them hurt you again." He whispered, but she heard and a light smile graced her lips.

"Thank you, Train...you're one of my only hopes in this dark and lonely world," Lucy said, "You...know...I almost killed that boy's sister, but I couldn't bring myself to do it...I know how you would have reacted."

"That's called compassion. We all have it." Train said before smiling, "I'll have you know I've become a much better shot with my Hades pistol!" He said as he whipped out his gun and toyed with it.

"Really?" She said in faint amusement, though she could feel herself slipping into the darkness. Nyuu was taking control, and she knew it wouldn't be long until she came back.

"Train...I'm sorry...she's taking over again..." She said and then she fainted.

"Lucy!" Train cried, shaking her. His golden eyes widened upon seeing her red eyes open again and look at him again before she uttered one word out of her mouth:

"Nyuu?"

"Is this your split personality, Lucy?" He asked. 'Lucy' blinked.

"Nyuu!" She chirped.

"Are you...retarded, by any chance?" Train asked, feeling a little creeped out by this event.

"Nyuu?" She chirped, eying Train up and down.

"My name is Train!"

"Nyuu!" She said, as if stating a fact. "Nyuu?" She said, reaching out to touch Train's gun.

"No, you can't touch this, you'll hurt yourself with it." Train reprimanded the curious Nyuu, who just stared at him as though he were nuts.

"You're welcome to stay the night if you want," Yuka said, eying Train's holster in suspicion.

"Nah, I've got business to take care of. I've gotta leave as soon as possible. See you," Train said as he, Sven, and Saya left. Mayu walked in the room. "Is it all right if I stay here?"

Kouta and Kanae shrugged. Yuka, however, was beet-red.

"Forget my stupid cousin, you're welcome to stay here if you like," Kanae said before kicking Yuka.

"Kanae-chan, that's not very nice!" Yuka scolded.

"So, you know that girl well?" Sven asked the assassin. He didn't particularly trust the man called Black Cat, but the man was likable enough and seemed nice. He just had to be wary of him-you could never turn your back on an assassin in a second. He knew that from experience.

"Not really, no. We're just friends." Train said apathetically, shrugging his shoulders. "But I'm not going to let her go again. I'll make sure she's safe this time."

"You're still not gonna get out of jail, Black Cat!" Saya warned.

"Why are you two still following me?" Train cried, quite annoyed by this. Despite his easygoing outlook, he still preferred to work alone.


	12. Chapter 12 Lucy's return

**A/N:Yo, updates have been slow...but I'll do my best to update, like always~. I've been busy on Tumblr, roleplaying my life away~. I regret none of it, but time to update! Osi...could do with an update as well...**

**Chapter 12 Train's new mission**

* * *

><p>"So, do you know her from the past, Heartnet?" Saya asked Train, though still shooting him askance looks out of the corner of her eye. Train knew she was still determined to defeat him and put him behind bars, despite his consolations to her telling her that he was a harmless bystander, she wouldn't buy that.<p>

It was frustrating, knowing that he had changed and yet these people still saw him as a terrible, horrible person, despite the fact that he still had upholded his honor code and still refrained from hurting others, he was still seen and regarded with distaste.

Train sighed. He had gotten used to this sort of reaction from people, yet why did he still bother to do what he did? He knew why. It was for his own satisfaction, above anything else, as well as a means of assuring Lucy that there would be no more terrible orphanage children bullying other kids because they were different, no longer would there be any misunderstandings, he wanted to save her, but was that impossible?

"Yes, I saved her from the same orphanage we were at. It was...hell on earth there, to be blunt," He said, dropping his cheery face and opting for his assassin demeanor. He needed it now more than ever and besides, some things couldn't be sugarcoated.

Some truth had to be intermixed with lies, but there were times where you just needed to be as blunt as could be.

"I see," Sven said, still staring with disbelieving eyes at the redhead in front of them who was sniffing all three of them and acting completely different than how she had been acting before.

"I see what you mean," Train said, "But we'll make sure to get you back to normal, right, Nyuu?"

His only response was when Nyuu grabbed Train's gun and was examining it fervently.

"Stop touching that! These weapons are dangerous, they can hurt you if you don't know what you're doing!" Train scolded, trying to get his gun back from the crazy chick.

Nyuu only stared at him, "Nyuuu?"

Train frowned. "Do you _even understand _what I'm saying, Lucy?"

"Nyuuu?"

"I'd say that's a no," Kouta said as he came in, with Yuka trailing behind him. Her eyes widened at the sight of the gun he was holding.

"Who are you, exactly? You're not ordinary people."

Train chuckled. "You're right. I'm not. The thing is, I can't exactly disclose what I am to you people. My organization is secret."

"Well, then, I guess we can't trust you," Kouta said darkly.

Sven stopped smoking. "I won't speak for Train, but he is a good person, even if the things he does are...against the law."

"Hey, what are you trying to say?" Train protested, quite annoyed at how no one was seeing his side of the issue. Just because he was an agent of Chronos didn't mean he was a complete and total villain without any feelings, darn it! Even he had his limits!

"Heartnet, if you think you're getting off the hook easily, the answer is no," Saya said sharply, "I've still got my eye on you, and don't think you're not gonna go to jail soon."

* * *

><p>"Can't you just let me off the hook!? All I took was a <em>bottle of milk<em>! Surely that's not a serious offense!" Train cried, very irritated at this turn of events. All he had wanted was a simple bottle of milk and yet _she _would not leave him alone about this. God, was this how irritating most women were? Train couldn't bear to think of what would happen if Hanako or Sephiria would see him like this...a shudder went over him as he thought of Sephiria and her anger.

It was pretty much a given in Chronos that Sephiria Arks was a terrifying woman, and not one you wished to tick off, lest you had a death sentence. Even when Train was young, she had not shown him any mercy when she was angry. It seemed that no matter what he did, Train would always find something to do to tick people off.

"I understand well what you mean," Sven said, eying Train warily, "But I don't completely trust you, either. I think you're up to something."

Train paled even more and hit the ground. "Oh, man...everyone still hates me...no matter what I do..."

"Quit complaining," Saya scolded. "What are you really here for? What's the point of protecting this girl?"

"We're alike, in a way," Train said, losing his comedic face and settling on his serious one.

"...Hmm...I see," Sven said, still troubled. 'This Black Cat fellow...he's suspicious...I don't trust him completely...the way he's changed to more open and friendly...I don't buy it...it's more like a ruse...what are you thinking, Heartnet? Why are you so nice to us?'

Train frowned. 'It looks like protecting Lucy is going to take more than I thought.'

* * *

><p>Suddenly there came a knock on the door that caused Train to jump up, gun by his side.<p>

"...Yes, who is it?" Yuka said, going to answer it.

"...Stay here, Lucy. Don't make a sound," Train said sharply.

"What? You're looking for a girl with red hair? I've never seen her before...you say a witness saw her go in this house...who?"

"...Why, she did. This young miss here,"

"_Kanae?" _Yuka said in disbelief.

Kanae glared at her. "I know what that stupid girl did to Big Brother, even if he's too much of an idiot to remember it himself. So I decided to report her to the authorities. She's a killer."

"So she _is _here, then. Bring her out so we can detain her and take her back home where she belongs." One of the officers said.

Yuka paused. "Wait a second, under what authority do you guys have to just go into someone's house and abduct someone?"

"...We work for an institute. That's all we can say. We've been given special permission to use any means necessary to find this target. So if you stand in our way, we won't hesitate to use force." They said, raising their guns up.

"That's really too bad..." Train said, smirking at them both. "I take it you guys don't realize you're kidnapping an innocent girl? You're gonna have to get through me and two Sweepers."

"Sweepers? Dammit! Why now of all times!" The police officer cursed, rushing into the house and knocking Yuka aside.

"Give us the girl!" They cried, but Train was faster and knocked the first officer to the ground, shooting him right in the leg and pinning him down.

"Are you going to make this easy or hard on yourself? If you stop now, I'll let you live." Train said sharply.

"Who the hell are you?"

"...An agent from Chronos...who wishes to inform you of some bad luck your institute is getting, courtesy of me."

He then pulled the trigger. Yuka screamed.

"What the hell is wrong with-"

But she didn't see anything else, because the other officer knocked her out.

"She was going to be a screamer, eh, Chronos Assassin? I'm not uninformed about you people. I know what you're capable of." The officer commanded before pulling out a gun and aiming it at Train, who remained perfectly still, glaring at him defiantly.

"...So, who told you about us? One of our former Erasers...or...?"

"Heh heh...you see, it was an order from Creed Diskenth."

"_Creed?_" Train uttered, completely shocked. "Creed wouldn't-"

"Sold out, huh? You afraid, Black Cat? You should be. That's the kind of world you live in. Your criminal buddies always sell you out. That's just the way life is, you see. If I take you down, I'll get big money, plus the money I'll get from killing her."

Kanae intervened. "Don't kill him!" But she too, was knocked unconscious.

Sven and Saya both drew their guns as well.

"Sorry, but I think we'll be hauling someone of your kind into prison as well," Saya said sharply.

"...You're making a mistake," Train said sharply as he fired a bullet at the officer, which struck his arm.

But before they could do anything else, the officer was suddenly torn in half before their eyes.

* * *

><p><em>Lucy<em> stood up, vectors at the ready. Her eyes narrowed as she took in Kanae and her vectors closed in around her. "Little brat...she always knew too much about me! She tried to kill me! I'm gonna pay her back for this...and what about you two?"

"Lucy, stop!" Train commanded.

Lucy froze as she took in Train. "Train...you big _idiot. _What were you thinking, trying to throw yourself away for someone like me? You idiot!"

Train rubbed the back of his head. "I suppose I care about you too much. But don't kill the girl! Those officers are definitely going to be reported missing..."

Lucy smirked. "You can surely cover for it, right?" She said before her gaze went to rest on Saya and Sven, who were both scared and curious.

"What are you, exactly?" Sven asked.

"I'm a Diclonius, a species that hates humans and wishes for nothing more than to exterminate them. Humans hate Diclonii as well, so why not do the world a favor and rid the world of man?"

"That's not true!" Saya said, "Not all humans are like them!"

"Minatsuki, be quiet!" Train said, "Stand down, you two. They're not a danger to you, just to me."

"Why would you put your trust in them? Train, they'll get you in prison."

"Anything's good as long as you're safe," Train replied before patting her head. Her vectors disappeared and a bright red blush illuminated her face. "Hey, why are you blushing?"

"It's nothing...I'm sunburned..." She said, turning away.

"Hmm...you sure are weird, Lucy. But that's what makes you unique."

Lucy blushed even darker red. Now her face was as red as a tomato.

"Yep, she's definitely in love with him," Saya remarked.

"Shut up! It's not like that!" Both Train and Lucy cried. "Anyway, we've gotta dispose of these bodies...before anyone sees..."


End file.
